MAHONING RIVER Dredge project excites activist

Environmentalists say the WCI project could be a model for a larger river cleanup project.
By CYNTHIA VINARSKY
VINDICATOR BUSINESS WRITER
WARREN -- Patricia Natale is as much an optimist as she is an environmentalist.
That's why she's more than a little excited that WCI Steel in Warren has begun to dredge and discard 90 years' worth of industrial pollution from a 1.3-mile segment of the Mahoning River.
Natale, president of the nonprofit grass-roots group Mahoning River Consortium, sees the WCI dredging project as the first step in a long-range plan to dredge a 31-mile stretch of the river, from north of Warren to the Pennsylvania line.
"It's so exciting, because it will help people to think about how great it would be to see the whole river cleaned up," said Natale, who works as an environmental specialist with the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency.
What's happening
WCI is dredging the section of river running across its property as part of a $4 million consent agreement reached in 1999 between the steelmaker and the federal EPA. The agency had filed lawsuits against WCI, alleging the company had violated the federal Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act.
Bob Davic, an environmental specialist with Ohio EPA in Twinsburg, said the Army Corps of Engineers is watching the WCI project closely because the company is using innovative techniques to dredge, dry and dispose of the polluted sediment.
The Army Corps has recommended dredging the 31 miles running through Mahoning and Trumbull counties, and WCI's project will give its environmentalists a chance to see the project done on a smaller scale.
"If it works here, and it's cost effective, this technology could be a model for the future," Davic said.
An environmental contractor hired for the WCI project is using a hydraulic system to vacuum the sediment from the river bottom -- a better method than digging or other methods, Davic said, because it minimizes stirring up sediment particles into the water.
He said the sediment includes heavy metals and polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) molecules, which are harmful to aquatic life, and Polynuclear Aromatic Hydrocarbons, which can cause liver damage if contacted by the skin.
Absorbent pads, similar to those used to contain an oil spill on water, will be used to trap sediment particles in the water.
Where sediment goes
Tom Shepker, WCI manager of environmental control, said the dredged sediment will be vacuumed into tubes made of porous plastic. The water will be drained into lagoons and pretreated, then sent to the Warren waste treatment plant for further treatment.
Meanwhile, the tubes of sediment will be stored on WCI property until they are dry enough to be moved to the BFI landfill.
Shepker said WCI considered another dredging method, a vortex system that forms a whirlpool. Officials decided to stick with the more familiar hydraulic dredging method, he said, based on reports from the Army Corps that the vortex method was more costly and no more effective.
"We decided to do it this way because we think we're getting the biggest bang for the buck," he said.
Metropolitan Environmental Services of Columbus is doing the dredging project for WCI, with Environmental Quality of Cincinnati overseeing the project. The company said the project will take about three months.
Studies by Army Corps
Natale said the Army Corps completed a study in 1999, paid for by federal dollars, which recommended dredging the 31 miles.
The corps recently began a second, $3 million feasibility study to determine the best way to do the job. This time the federal government split the cost with nine communities on the target section of the river.
Based on early estimates, the project would take 13 years and would cost about $100 million, but Natale said the study under way should give planners a better idea how long the project would take and how much it would cost.
Shepker and Davic credited U.S. Rep. James Traficant Jr., D-17th of Poland, who was convicted of 10 felony counts including racketeering and bribery, for pushing for the cleanup.
Can the project go forward without Traficant behind it? Shepker isn't ready to give up. "We're going to have to get someone else at that level [of government] to get behind it," he said. "If there's enough interest in this area, it will happen."
vinarsky@vindy.com