Feasibility Study
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Pittsburgh District U.S. EPA: Cooperating Agency Mahoning River, Ohio Environmental Dredging Fish deformities caused by sediment contamination in the Mahoning River Draft Feasibility Report And Environmental Impact Statement August 2006 DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY PITTSBURGH DISTRICT, CORPS OF ENGINEERS WILLIAM S. MOORHEAD FEDERAL BUILDING 1000 LIBERTY AVENUE PITTSBURGH, PA 15222-4186 REPLY TO ATTENTION OF Planning and Environmental Branch August 2006 Project Name: Mahoning River, Ohio, Environmental Dredging, Draft Feasibility Report and Environmental Impact Statement Lead Agency: Pittsburgh District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Cooperating Agency: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 5 Contact: Mr. Carmen Rozzi, Public Involvement Specialist, Pittsburgh District, Corps of Engineers, 1000 Liberty Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15222-4186. Telephone Number: 412-395-7227, e-mail: [email protected] Abstract The Pittsburgh District has been authorized by Section 312 of the Water Resources Development Act of 1990 to remove and remediate contaminated sediments present within the Mahoning River that flows through the City of Youngstown and surrounding communities in Mahoning and Trumbull Counties, Ohio. The lower Mahoning River is one of the most heavily contaminated rivers in the United States. For much of the 20th Century, the river was used by numerous steel and related industries as a water supply source as well as an unregulated sewer to dump tons of waste materials. Since the downturn of the local steel industry in the 1980’s and 1990’s, water quality within the lower Mahoning River began to improve, but past industrial contamination has persisted within sediments deposited along the banks and river bottom. Because of the persistent contamination, the Ohio Department of Health has issued human health advisories warning about fish consumption and sediment contact. This draft feasibility study and environmental impact statement examines the extent of the contamination, recommends alternative methodologies to remove and/or remediate it and describes the anticipated impacts of the alternative actions, including “No Action”. Review and Comment Period: This Draft Feasibility Report and Environmental Impact Statement has been sent to numerous Federal, State, local agencies, and organizations and interested citizens for review and comment. All comments made on this draft report must be received in the District by no later than October 15, 2006. Each comment received will be addressed and included in an appendix to the final report. Mahoning River, Ohio, Environmental Dredging Feasibility Report And Environmental Impact Statement *SUMMARY (*Header or Section items marked with an asterisk are required for an Environmental Impact Statement) a. Project authority This feasibility study was authorized by Section 312(b) of the Water Resources Development Act of 1990, as amended by Section 205 of the Water Resources Development Act of 1996 and Section 224 of the Water Resources Development Act of 1999. Under this authority, the Corps has been sanctioned to remove and remediate contaminated sediments from waters of the United States for environmental enhancement and water quality improvements. The Mahoning River within Ohio was specifically named in this legislation as a priority. In addition to the above authority, the study of the Mahoning River contamination problem was also contained in a resolution adopted 11 April 1974 by the Committee on Public Works of the United States House of Representatives. The House Public Works Committee resolution states: “RESOLVED BY THE COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC WORKS OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, United States, that the Board of Engineers for Rivers and Harbors is hereby requested to review the report of the Chief of Engineers on the comprehensive flood control plan for the Ohio and Lower Mississippi Rivers published as Flood Control Committee Document No. 1, 75th Congress, and other pertinent reports, with a view toward determining if any modifications of the present comprehensive plan for flood control and other purposes are advisable at this time with reference to environmental improvements relating to water quality in the Mahoning River, and with particular reference to dredging and offsite disposal of river bottom sludges.” b. Project Location and Purpose The project is located in extreme eastern Ohio, along a 31-mile reach (section) of the Lower Mahoning River that extends from Warren, Ohio downstream through the communities of Niles, Girard, McDonald, Youngstown, Struthers, Campbell, and Lowellville to the Pennsylvania-Ohio border. This Feasibility Study and Environmental Impact Statement identifies the most cost effective and environmentally sensitive method to clean up contaminated sediment present within the lowest 31-miles of the Mahoning River in Ohio and sets forth the positive and negative environmental impacts that may result from the clean-up action. Environmental impacts include biological impacts as well as cultural (historic and archaeological) and social impacts. c. General Background Information (1) History of River Pollution For most of the Twentieth Century, the lower reach of the Mahoning River in Ohio supported one of the most intensely industrialized steel-producing regions of the world. From 1920 through 1970, fifteen primary steel mills and thirty-five steel-related plants used this 31- mile long river reach as a sewer to dump their waste products. The waste included benzene, oil Page-i Mahoning River, Ohio, Environmental Dredging Feasibility Report And Environmental Impact Statement and grease, unspecified petroleum hydrocarbons, waste acids, wastewater, ash, coal tar, PCBs and other materials. In addition to industrial wastes, the river was severely polluted for decades by high concentrations of untreated domestic sewage. (2) Low Head Dams and Stream and Bank Sediment Contamination A series of low head dams were constructed along the Lower Mahoning River to provide water supply sources for industries. ("Head" is defined as the water pressure exerted on the dam from the retained pool, measured in feet from the water surface below the dam. Because the dams in the project reach are only between 2.5 and 13 feet high, their pressure heads are relatively small, and they are typically referred to as "low head" dams.) These dams created slack-water pools that slowed river velocities sufficiently to allow many of the discharged pollutants to bind chemically to fine-grained depositional sediment and accumulate in places on the channel bottom, especially just upstream of the dams. If the dams were not there, the pollutants would largely have washed downstream. The contaminated sediment that collected behind these dams has persisted to the present time. They appear as a black, oily substance with a strong petroleum odor when removed from the channel bottom. The dams themselves also degrade the quality of the aquatic habitat. As mentioned they trap sediments upstream and reduce sediment transport downstream of the structures; they disrupt the natural flow regime by slowing water velocities altering river temperatures and dissolved oxygen levels; and they restrict migration of fish and other organisms between pools. A layer of contaminated sediment also exists in places under the present stream banks. This layer of contaminated sediment was originally deposited on the river bottom. Over time areas of the bottom adjacent to the river banks was slowly covered by cleaner cap material deposited during high water events. As the stream bank extended laterally riverward through sediment deposition, the lens of contaminated stream bottom sediment became encapsulated. The low head dams contributed to this stream bank formation by slowing high water flows that allowed heavier sediment particles to settle and accumulate on the banks. Because the bank areas containing contaminated sediment are depositional in nature, the buried sediments would likely remain encapsulated and relatively stable for the foreseeable future. This observation was taken into account during the formulation of alternative plans. It was also determined by team members that as the reliability, effectiveness, and safety of bioremediation technologies improve over time, that such measures could, if needed, be employed at some future date to remediate buried stream bank contaminants. (Bioremediation is the science of utilizing natural agents, such as bacteria, to break down toxic compounds into a non-toxic or less toxic form.) d. Present Environmental Conditions The Mahoning River in the project area flows through highly urbanized and industrialized land. Since the steel industry turn down, many of the industrial sites adjacent to the river have been abandoned and are now classified as highly disturbed brownfields. The term brownfield or brownfield site generally refers to a former commercial or industrial land that was occupied by a structure (such as a steel mill) and that has been vacated or abandoned with a Page-ii Mahoning River, Ohio, Environmental Dredging Feasibility Report And Environmental Impact Statement potential for reuse and development. Additionally, according to U.S.EPA, “Section 101 of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9601) was amended by adding at the end the following: (39) BROWNFIELD SITE- (A) IN GENERAL- The term “brownfield site” means real property, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or potential