The project falls under the Great Lakes Legacy Act of 2002 and is the largest such proposed cleanup in scope and costs under the act, an initiative to clean up 31 pollution hot spots on the U.S. side of the Great Lakes.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Ashtabula City Port Authority will clean some 600,000 cubic yards of sediment from a 1-mile stretch of the river, which is a tributary to Lake Erie. The sediment is contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls.

The EPA and the Port Authority, along with its partners, will split the cost of the cleanup evenly. Ohio is kicking in $7 million as part of the Port Authority´s share. The parties expect to complete the work in 2009.

The Great Lakes Legacy Act authorizes $270 million in funding over five years for cleanups of contaminated sediment hot spots. In 2004, the first year funds were available, Congress appropriated $9.9 million. In 2005, Congress appropriated $22.3 million, and $30 million will be available in 2006.