Environmental attorney Sanders says Ottawa River Group agrees to cleanup contaminated river sediments results in victory for Lake Erie area.

Folks living in and around Toledo, Ohio will be glad to know that U.S. EPA and the Ottawa River Group agreed to a $43 million cleanup of contaminated sediment in the Ottawa River. Costs will be equally shared between EPA, using funds provided by the Great Lakes Legacy Act, and the local sponsors. The Ottawa River Group is a partnership of the city of Toledo and businesses along the river, including E.I. duPont, Honeywell, Chrysler, Allied Waste North America, Illinois Toolworks, United Technologies and GenCorp.

Beginning this summer, about 270,000 cubic yards of sediment contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls or PCBs, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons or PAHs, and metals will be dredged from a 5.6-mile stretch of the river. The project is expected to be completed in about two years. Contamination in the sediment of the Ottawa River is a leading cause of state advisories against eating certain fish from the river and Maumee Bay.

The cleanup will reduce the mass of PCBs entering Lake Erie. Dredged sediment contaminated with high levels of PCBs will be sent to a facility designed and permitted to accept this type of waste. Remaining sediment will likely go to Toledo's Hoffman Road landfill. Although discharges of toxic chemicals to the Great Lakes have been reduced in the last 30 years, contaminants persist in the sediment of some rivers, harbors and bays as a "legacy" of urbanization and industrial activity.

Five Legacy Act cleanups have been completed. More than 900,000 cubic yards of sediment have been cleaned up, removing 1.7 million pounds of contaminants. The total cost of the cleanups was $97 million, with $53 million coming from Great Lakes Legacy Act funds and $44 million from nonfederal sources. Key to the success of the projects has been the strong partnerships that have developed between EPA and other federal, state, local and private entities.

More information is available at http://www.epa.gov/glla/ottawa/index.html