A.52 Ottawa River, Toledo, OH 

A.52.1 Contacts

Great Lakes National Program Office

A.52.2 Summary

Environment:	Freshwater River and Creek
Scale:	Full
Contaminants of Concern:	PCBs and PAHs
Source Control Achieved Prior to Remedy Selection?	Partial source controlThose efforts that are taken to eliminate or reduce, to the extent practicable, the release of COCs from direct and indirect ongoing sources to the aquatic system being evaluated. has been achieved. Five industrial sites have been cleaned up; three landfills have been capped, and the City of Toledo is working to control combined sewer overflows.
Final Remedy:	Hydraulic dredging and off-site disposal

A.52.3 Site Description

Primary source(s): Historical pollution from landfills, industrial facilities, and CSOs.

Location: The project is part of the Ottawa River/Maumee River Area of Concern (AOC) located in Toledo, Ohio. The sediment cleanup focuses on approximately 6 miles of the Ottawa River and the approximately 1 mile of Sibley Creek, a tributary to the Ottawa River.

Site history:  Historical industrial activities, CSOs, and releases from landfills has resulted in sediment contamination within the Ottawa River and Sibley Creek. Contamination in the sediment of the Ottawa River is a leading cause of state advisories against eating certain fish from the river and Maumee Bay. The cleanup will reduce the mass of PCBs entering Lake Erie. A consortium of parties have come forward to provide matching dollars for remediationThe act or process of abating, cleaning up, containing, or removing a substance (usually hazardous or infectious) from an environment. of contaminated sediments. These parties include the City of  Toledo; Allied Waste North America, Inc.; E.I. du Pont de Nemours and  Co.;  Honeywell, Inc.; Illinois Tool Works, Inc.; Unite Technologies Corp.; Varta Microbattery, Inc.; the Mosaic Co.; Perstorp Polyols, Inc.; and Grand Trunk Western Railroad.

A.52.4 Remedial Objectives

Beneficial use impacts include restrictions on fish and wildlife consumption, excessive algae growth, and degraded fish and wildlife habitat.

A.52.5 Remedial Approach

Dredging was followed by off-site disposal in a landfill. Dredged sediment contaminated with high levels of PCBs will be sent to a facility designed and permitted to accept this type of waste. Remaining sediment will likely go to Toledo's Hoffman Road landfill.

Approximately 250,000 yd³ of sediment contaminated with PCBs and PAHs were hydraulically dredged and dewatered using Geotubes. The majority of the contaminated sediments were disposed of in the Hoffman Road Landfill.

Why the remedy was selected:  Elevated levels of PCBs and PAHs has resulted in degraded habitat and restrictions on the consumption of fish and wildlife. Dredging was selected because a suitable disposal site was available.

A.52.6 Costs

The $49 million Ottawa River project was funded by the GLLA and the Ottawa River Group on a 50/50 basis.

A.52.7 Advantages and Limitations

The project successfully leveraged GLLA funding to complete a sediment cleanup.

A.52.8 References

Ottawa River Lagacy Act Cleanup; add period to end of reference. http://www.epa.gov/glla/ottawa/.

Publication Date: August 2014