A few weeks ago, those paying attention noticed a strangely familiar dispute brewing amidst the navigable waters of our Cuyahoga. Despite a reasoned opinion by a federal judge issued last Spring (and just shy of the full steam of the 2015 shipping season), the Buffalo-headquartered US Army Corps of Engineers, the federal agency charged with dredging and disposal of potenially/allegedly/probably/partially toxic sediments along The Cleveland Harbor Federal Navigational Channel opted to say "No Thanks!" to 2016 funds allotted to dispose of these sediments into CDF's (confined disposal facilities) and, instead, reduced its own budget. The Buffalo Corps brass asserted that current standards allow them to dump these sediments in the open waters of Lake Erie as fish food.
It's difficult to see how this unilateral decision to decline funds allotted for CDF disposal is not in direct contravention of Judge Donald Nugent's preliminary injunction order of last year, which specifically foretold the recurring nature of this dispute. (Here's a PDF of the opinion: (Link to Judge Nugent's OPINION). It's even more difficult to find rationale for the Corps' intransigence on the matter. Surely, it's not a matter of money. A variety of funding streams are available to pay. Could it be something else?
Perhaps the answer lies (!?) at the bottom of all the other navigable waters, both fresh and oceanic, where the Corps has been steadily dumping toxic sediment for years. Perhaps no one but Cleveland has made it an issue. Perhaps, if the Corps must concede that administrative/environmental regulations compel CDF disposal here, it must concede that it must do so elsewhere.
The shameful degradation of the Cuyahoga was once a catalyst for major environmental changes across the nation, but it's clear the regulatory waters have been muddied again, at the expense of clean water and a fishable food chain. I, for one, plan on doing something about it. Perhaps you'll join me as I shuffle off to Buffalo, this Spring(field), for what it's worth.
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