The federal government has agreed to pay much of the cost to remove the Gorge Dam on the Cuyahoga River (Ohio), which could be removed in 2019.
Bill Zawiski of the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency told the Summit MetroParks commissioners on Tuesday that the federal government has agreed to provide 65 percent of the $70 million cost to remove the 57-foot-high dam and deal with sediments behind it.
Removing the dam that was built in 1911-1912 would provide a major boost to water quality in the Cuyahoga River. Situated near the mouth of The Gorge MetroPark, between Akron and Cuyahoga Falls, the dam is a blight on the river’s wildlife, according to the Ohio EPA. Removing the dam would increase oxygen levels in the water, increase fish population and return white water to Cuyahoga Falls.
The plan drew favorable comments from those in a crowd of 140 people at a public meeting arranged by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency on September 23, 2015.
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