Park board to examine costs of alternatives to Leavittsburg dam removal

"You should have a plan for how you're going to clean all this silt and sediment...because if you don't have a plan, it's going to fall on all the residents," a woman told the Trumbull County MetroParks board Thursday. Another in the crowd of around 50 or so said "...as far as you guys claiming to do this to clean up the river, that's the craziest thing I ever heard because you're leaving tens of thousands of tons of contaminated sediments behind."

They packed into a room at Kent State Trumbull to confront the board, and wait for them to decide whether to green-light the removal of the Leavittsburg dam. It's a project that's been on the table since 2019, and the dam has been there for about a century.

Most of the crowd - including county and township officials - pressed the board to find a way to keep the dam.
But a few cited things like flooding issues around Eagle Creek for why they want it gone. Others worry about pollution and contamination, along with impacts to their property values.

"Our school buses get rerouted, our emergency services get rerouted...so all these things you're talking about that could possibly happen, we already have," said one resident who lives near the creek.

But simply finding an alternative isn't that simple.
Board chair Randy Fabrizio tells 21 News a study with convincing evidence that the environmental impact would be at least the same as it is to remove the dam is the only thing that would sway the Ohio EPA.

That could take months.
Not to mention dollars the board doesn't have.

"All the alternatives that were outlined in the DLZ study had significant increases in cost to the project," said Fabrizio. When we asked him if he sees removing the dam as the only real solution, he replied "at this point, without having more information in front of me, yes."

In the end, the board decided that it will meet with DLZ, the engineering firm commissioned by the county engineer and commissioners, to revisit the cost of any alternatives.