“We had time to address the amount of dredge material, placement and plans to use the dredge materials as a resource for agricultural uses, construction and engineering materials. This is all part of the big picture for all that,” Steigerwald Dick said. We are working with H2Ohio to reduce nutrient sediment loads into Lake Erie to prevent harmful algal blooms. That was adding large amounts of sediment, nutrients and impacting water quality. “Historically, the majority of the dredge material was placed in the open lake. At stake are 25 million commodities, $25 billion in business revenue and approximately 130,000 jobs. A state law that was passed in 2015 and went into effect July 1, 2020, ruled that there could be no more open lake disposal of Lake Erie dredge material.Įight harbors are impacted by the ruling, Steigerwald Dick said, with the Toledo Harbor having the most, at more than 600,000 cubic yards of dredge material every year. Vanessa Steigerwald Dick, an environmental scientist with the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, presented “Value and Benefits of Dredge Sediment on Farm and Agricultural Lands in Northwest Ohio” at a recent virtual meeting of the Center for Innovative Food Technology.Īccording to Steigerwald Dick, the Ohio EPA’s Dredge Material Program works with local, state and federal partners, including the Army Corps of Engineers, to address the change in the regulations impacting open lake placement of dredge materials. Angélica Vázquez-Ortega, an assistant professor in the BGSU School of Earth, Environment and Society, is working with the agricultural community to answer a question that is at the root of her research: “Is dredge material good for soil?” Within those dredged materials are some important soil nutrients.ĭr. A Bowling Green State University researcher hopes to impact Lake Erie’s water quality by using dredged sediments from the lake and adding them to farm soils.Įach year, more than a million cubic yards of sediment are dredged from Lake Erie in an effort to keep shipping channels and commodities moving in and out of the Port of Toledo.
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