City now expects Ballville Dam permit in April

FREMONT - The city's long wait to secure a final U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Section 404 permit for the Ballville Dam's removal just got a little longer.

City Law Director Jim Melle said city officials were told at a pre-trial conference hearing on Monday — held to discuss the status of the Ohio Sierra Club's federal lawsuit seeking to halt the dam's removal — that the city should be awarded the 404 permit in the first week of April.

Melle said somebody who had spoken with Army Corps officials relayed the information about the permit to the city at the hearing. In February, Melle said the city was expecting the permit in the first week of March. No reason was given for the delay.

The Sierra Club filed for a federal injunction in July 2015 to halt the removal project.

The environmental group has repeatedly stated that it would ultimately like to see the dam removed, but only if the sediment behind the dam is removed first.

Since the filing of the injunction, the city has pushed forward with the project and cleared several hurdles in its efforts to finally remove the dam.

In October, the city completed a new ice control structure as part of the dam removal project's first phase.

U.S Fish and Wildlife Service reaffirmed last month that incremental removal of the dam and construction of an ice control structure remain its preferred option.

The federal agency released a formal record of a decision  for its Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) on the dam project. It had released a final SEIS Oct. 28 and taken additional public comments before issuing the record of decision.

Richard Sahli, the Sierra Club's attorney, said in February the group's decision regarding the dam project could hinge on what's in the 404 permit.

The Sierra Club has maintained that the environmental statement showed the removal of the dam could double the output of phosphorus loading from the Sandusky River to Lake Erie. A large, growing dead zone in the lake's central basin, caused by nitrogen, also could be expanded by the dam's removal, according to the group.

Melle said the next hearing regarding the federal lawsuit would be held April 4 at 11 a.m.

dacarson@gannett.com

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Twitter: @DanielCarson7