Struthers, Campbell denied Ohio EPA funding for dam-removal project

Mayor Terry Stocker said he’s hopeful the Ohio EPA will review the application during the 30-day comment period.

Struthers, Campbell denied Ohio EPA funding for dam-removal project

STRUTHERS

A grant application submitted jointly by the cities of Struthers and Campbell for a dam-removal project came up two points short of being selected for funding by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency’s Water Restoration Sponsor Program.

But Mayor Terry Stocker said he’s hopeful the Ohio EPA will review the application during the 30-day comment period, as requested, and perhaps reconsider its alotting of only 10 out of 14 possible points for the “effectiveness of action factor,” or how much the project would improve the quality of its associated water resource.

An additional two points would bump the Struthers-Campbell dam-removal project up to 20.5 points overall — and possibly into the short list of intended, or funded, projects for 2014-2015.

The Ohio EPA also takes into account a project’s “importance of resource factor” and its “restoration potential factor.”

Stocker added that the 12-page grant application submitted in late August was comparable to the one submitted by Lowellville, which this year netted the village a $2.4 million dam-removal grant from the state agency. He noted, too, that Lowellville’s application scored 12 out of 14 points for its effectiveness of action factor.

“What we’re doing, and what Lowellville is doing, they’re complementary to each other,” Stocker said.

He said the city should receive word regarding the Ohio EPA’s decision within about a week.

Even if the project isn’t funded this year — which would be “unfortunate and disappointing,” Stocker said — the city will have a better idea of what to expect when applying for funding again next year.

The $5.5 million grant would have financed removal of the industrial dam on the Mahoning River between the two cities, along with about 35,000 cubic yards of polluted sediment.

Doing so would improve water quality and further open up the river, attracting water-sports enthusiasts and economic growth along the waterway.