Conneaut hosts ribbon cutting for Dredge Reclamation Facility

The City of Conneaut, Ohio, and state officials marked the completion of work on the Conneaut Creek Dredge Reclamation Facility yesterday with a ribbon-cutting ceremony.

At the ceremony, Jim Hockaday, City Manager, praised the collaboration that took place to get the city to the point where the facility could be completed, reports Star Beacon.

The facility is necessary due to a state law that went into effect in mid-2020, banning the dumping of dredged material into Lake Erie, as part of an effort to improve water quality in the lake.

According to Hockaday, open lake placement of dredged material created a hazard for the lake, by adding sediment and nutrient to the lake, which spawns algae blooms.

“Minimization of that is important, but I think also, more importantly is, we’re pulling this valuable commodity out of the lake, that doesn’t need to be there, and there’s so many better things we could be doing,” the City Manager said.

Material dredged from the Conneaut harbor will be pumped into the facility, where the dredged material will settle out, and the water can be released back into Conneaut Creek.