AKRON, Ohio — Help is coming for the long-awaited project to remove the Gorge Dam on the Cuyahoga River in Summit County.
This week, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it agreed to an over $100 million plan to remove nearly 875,000 cubic yards of contaminated sediments from behind the 420-foot-wide, 60-foot-tall dam within Gorge Metro Park. The EPA is partnering with the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District, the city of Akron, FirstEnergy/Ohio Edison Company, and Ohio EPA on the project.
Summit Metro Parks, the city of Cuyahoga Falls, and Summit County are also supporting the project through "financial and technical support." Last year, the state of Ohio pledged to spend $25 million to assist in the effort.
The Gorge Dam, which sits on the border of Cuyahoga Falls and Akron, was originally constructed in 1911 to provide hydroelectric power, but hydroelectric generation ended at the dam by 1958. In the spring of 2009, the power generating station on the dam was razed. The structure is now the "largest remaining water quality impediment on the Cuyahoga River," according to Summit Metro Parks.
The sediments behind the dam must first be remediated before the removal process of the physical structure can begin.
During a public meeting on Wednesday in Akron, EPA officials laid out the timetable for the project. There will be two separate "dredging seasons" in April-November of both 2024 and 2025. The dam removal would then begin in 2026.
The total cost of the project is expected to be over $100 million. A more exact figure will be revealed after the contractor bidding process takes place.
“The removal of the Gorge Dam will restore the natural flow of the Cuyahoga River, improve the environment, expand recreational opportunities, and improve habitat for fish and wildlife species in our communities,” said Mayor Dan Horrigan in a statement. “The City of Akron is proud to partner with our local, regional, and national partners on this vital project and we can't wait to see the benefits to our local ecosystem.”
The EPA says once the contaminated sediments and the dam are removed, a significant portion of the river will be returned to a free-flowing natural state for the first time in over 100 years. The agency also believes the project will help lead to the ultimate removal of the Cuyahoga River from the list of 25 remaining U.S. Areas of Concern (AOCs) — highly degraded areas found across the Great Lakes basin.
You can watch the Gorge Dam public meeting below.
