Mahoning River contamination creates a 'toxic soup,' a project manager says.

Mahoning River contamination creates a 'toxic soup,' a project manager says.
& lt;a href=mailto:hill@vindy.com & gt;By IAN HILL & lt;/a & gt;
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
here are so many toxic substances contaminating the sediment of the Mahoning River that it's difficult to determine how the contamination affects public health.
"It gets very, very complicated," said Mike Saffran, who recently served as project manager for the Army Corps of Engineers' report on the sediment.
Saffran said there are hundreds of substances and chemicals in the sediment, and that studies haven't been done to determine how the interaction of so many substances in the sediment affects humans.
The sediment report is part of the corps' $3 million study to determine the feasibility of dredging 33 miles of the river between Leavittsburg and the Pennsylvania line. The Eastgate Regional Council of Governments is working with the corps on the study.
Saffran will discuss the report at a public meeting from noon to 4 p.m. Wednesday at the Holiday Inn on South Avenue in Boardman.
Cause of the problem
Carmen Rozzi, project manager for the corps' Pittsburgh office, said the contamination of the sediment stems from decades of steel production and industry along the river. Kim Mascarella, Eastgate director of environmental planning, noted that some steel mills dumped hundreds of gallons of crude oil into the river each day.
"You can imagine, over 70, 80, 100 years, what that's done to the river," Rozzi said.
Some of the oil pollution is reflected in the amount of petroleum hydrocarbons found in the sediment, the report indicates. The level in the sediment is much higher than the safe level of 1,000 milligrams per kilogram, the amount that is considered toxic to aquatic life, according to Rozzi. In one area, the level spikes to 80,000 milligrams per kilogram.
EPA and Ohio Department of Health representatives said they don't have standards showing the levels of the chemicals and substances in the sediment that would be considered toxic to humans. Officials also noted that few studies have been done on petroleum hydrocarbons in sediment.
The report shows that the levels of petroleum hydrocarbons and other chemicals and substances in the sediment at the Pennsylvania end of the river, downstream from the former location of many steel mills, is several times higher than the amount found near Leavittsburg, upstream of the former mill locations.
"When you reach the Pennsylvania line, you've really got a toxic soup there," Saffran said.
Another substance
Besides the petroleum hydrocarbons, substances found in the sediment include the chemical compound benzo(a)pyrene, which can damage red blood cells and cause immune system problems and cancer. Saffran stressed, however, that the benzo(a)pyrene in the Mahoning River would only pose a threat to humans if they eat large amounts of the sediment.
"There's no real significant threat to humans," Saffran said.
The amount of benzo(a)pyrene found in some of the sediment is several times higher than the amount the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency considers safe, Saffran said. The state EPA said the amount should be less than one-half parts per million of sediment; the report found the Mahoning River sediment contained hundreds of parts per million of the compound, Saffran said.
Benzo(a)pyrene is in a group of chemicals called polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons that are created by the burning of coke, used to make steel, said Bob Davic, an environmental scientist for the Ohio EPA. The report shows that the amount of PAHs in the sediment near Pennsylvania is hundreds of times higher than the amount in the sediment near Leavittsburg.
The report also shows that the level of mercury in the sediment is dozens of times higher near Pennsylvania than it is near Leavittsburg. Mercury is a metal that can cause neurological and developmental health problems.
Saffran said the mercury, like the benzo(a)pyrene, only poses a threat if humans eat large amounts of sediment or fish from the river.
Mercury
The state EPA said the amount of mercury should be less than one-quarter parts per million of sediment; the report found the sediment contained seven, eight and nine parts per million along the river, Saffran said.
Since 1988, the Ohio Department of Health has maintained an advisory against swimming or wading in the river between Leavittsburg and Pennsylvania or eating fish caught there. Saffran said in June there were children playing in the river near the Liberty Street dam in Girard.
Rozzi said the goal of the dredging project is to clean the river of contaminants and have the department of health lift the swimming and fishing ban.
"It's really a jewel that nobody considers to be a jewel," he said of the river.
The dredging project, which would cost an estimated $100 million and take 12 to 15 years, would call for the corps to remove about 750,000 cubic yards of sediment from the river and its banks. Rozzi said the corps and local officials are working on a strategy to obtain funding for the project.
Information about the project also is available on the corps' Web site.
The $3 million feasibility study is expected to be complete next fall.
Rozzi added that as part of the project, the corps may remove eight of the 11 dams or former dams along the river. Many of the former dams are now 100-year-old crumbling piles of rocks that serve only to impede the flow of the river, he said.
The dams that won't be removed are the Leavitt Street dam in Leavittsburg, the Liberty Street dam in Girard and the Main Street dam in Warren, Rozzi said. He said WCI Steel uses water pooled by the Main Street dam, while McDonald Steel and Reliant Energy use water pooled by the Liberty Street dam.
& lt;a href=mailto:hill@vindy.com & gt;hill@vindy.com & lt;/a & gt;
XOn the Internet: www.lrp.usace.army.mil/pm/mahonoh.htm