WARREN — The effort to remove all nine dams from the Mahoning River to restore the valuable natural resource to its free-flowing state has received a $5 million boost from the state.

On Thursday, Gov. Mike DeWine and Ohio Environmental Protection Agency Director Anne Vogel were in Warren to announce grant funding to remove the Main Street dam in Warren, near the Cleveland-Cliffs coke making plant.

Its removal will “improve water quality and protect the health and diversity of aquatic species here,” DeWine said at an event at the Warren Community Amphitheatre. “Once all nine dams are removed, this will free up 32 miles of the Mahoning River that can be used to fish, to canoe, to walk, to do all kinds of things.”

Eastgate Regional Council of Governments has led the dam-removal initiative between Newton Falls in Trumbull County and Lowellville in Mahoning County. Eight of the nine removals should be completed by the end of summer 2026, said Eastgate Executive Director Jim Kinnick.

“It was always our vision to get the dams out, get the river to its clean, free-flowing state and then develop the river and tie the river into the communities that are along the river for economic development,” Kinnick said. “The quality of life is what we are improving in those communities and quality of life is vital to economic development.”

So far, the dams in Struthers and Lowellville have been removed. Projects will start this year to remove the Summit Street dam in Warren and two dams in Youngstown, one by the Marshall Street Bridge and the other on Crescent Street.

There are plans to demolish the Leavittsburg Dam and one by the Center Street Bridge in Youngstown starting in 2025 and be finished the following year.

The remaining dam is in Girard and estimated to cost $10 million, Kinnick said. Talks with the Ohio EPA are ongoing to find funding for the dam in Girard.

Removing the dams promotes fish migration, health and diversity of aquatic species, and allows nature to move sediment properly through the Mahoning River, according to the Ohio EPA.

“The scientists back home at EPA are very excited about this,” Vogel said. “I know the recreation part is a big deal, but the governor is also focused on water quality in Ohio and getting these dams down is huge for water quality. The sediment that builds up behind these dams is not good for the fish, it’s not good for people.”

The funding for Warren’s Main Street dam removal is from an $80 million settlement with Monsanto from a lawsuit filed in 2018 by DeWine, who was Ohio attorney general at the time.

BENEFITS

Warren Mayor Doug Franklin said the dams played a critical role in the history of the city and the Mahoning Valley, but their usefulness has long passed.

“It’s become increasingly clear that the removal of the dams will unlock new opportunities for economic development and enhance the quality of life for all of our residents in the whole Valley,” he said.

Also, the state’s commitment to their removal and cleaning up the river “played a big part” in the city’s decision to invest $6 million of its American Rescue Plan allocation into improvements at city parks and it “was a pivotal act in our efforts to bring a $150 million private investment” to the area in Warren known as the peninsula.

The peninsula is a stretch of land along West Market Street named that way because the Mahoning River wraps around it. The land that stretches from Main Avenue SW to South Street is largely vacant and is prime for redevelopment. The plan for the land is mix-used residential, commercial and cultural development.

PUBLIC CHALLENGE

DeWine during the funding announcement event at the Warren Community Amphitheatre publicly invited mayors of the cities along the river to join him on a canoe trip once all the dams are removed.

“You guys all up to this now?” DeWine said as he turned to ask Franklin, Youngstown Mayor Jamael Tito Brown, Struthers Mayor Catherine Cercone Miller and Niles Mayor Steve Mientkiewicz to join him on the trip.

“It’s going to be fun. I’m looking forward to it,” DeWine said.