#National Park Service | Environmental Compliance | Cleanup Division | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

xtruss · 2 years

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Thanks to a multiyear, multimillion dollar cleanup, what was once a toxic junkyard has become a flower- and fauna-filled zone at Cuyahoga Valley National Park in Ohio. Many national parks contain environments that have been remediated and reclaimed. Photograph By Chris Davis, National Park Service

It Was a Toxic Wasteland. Now It’s a National Park.

After a $50 million cleanup, flowers and wildlife replace chemicals and rusting cars in one corner of Ohio’s Cuyahoga Valley National Park.

— By Shannon Bohle | May 2, 2022

A junkyard that once held rusting cars and thousands of barrels of oozing toxic chemicals just got added to a national park. The former Krejci dump, a 45-acre parcel that operated from 1948 to 1980, opened to the public in December as part of a 200-acre addition to Cuyahoga Valley National Park, a 33,000-acre swath that winds between Cleveland and Akron, Ohio.

Over the past 16 years, this corner of land near the Cuyahoga River was transformed from a Superfund site into a wetland teeming with birds and plants. It’s the most extensive and expensive of the hundreds of ongoing reclamation and rehabilitation projects overseen by the National Park Service (NPS).

Their work turns toxic zones—left behind after coal mining, oil drilling, or hazardous waste dumping—into safe, enjoyable outdoor oases. “Virtually every national park within the system has a contaminated site,” says Veronica Dickerson, a manager at the National Park Service’s Environmental Compliance and Cleanup Division. “People think of bugs, bunnies, and beautiful scenery associated with national parks, but I manage 13 of the messiest projects in the park service.”

Millions of people visit the varied and stunning landscapes of the NPS each year. Few realize that many parks didn’t start out as pristine wilderness. The Grand Canyon once held a uranium mine on its south rim; copper and arsenic extraction sites used to pollute what’s now Joshua Tree National Park. National parks are growing, evolving landscapes that, over time, have been given or acquired new parcels that required remediation.

Today, Cuyahoga Valley National Park’s new acres offer travelers a chance to dip into a revived natural space. Here’s how it went from a wreck to an environmental triumph.

Pollution Inspires a Movement—and an Ohio Park

After the polluted Cuyahoga River caught fire for the 13th time on June 22, 1969, magazines including Time and National Geographic ran articles and photos detailing the area’s ecological crisis. The national outrage that followed catapulted Cleveland to the center of America’s new environmental movement, helping to create the Environmental Protection Agency in 1970 and to pass The Clean Water Act of 1972.

A 1985 photo shows the Krejci dump, a toxic Superfund site that has been rehabilitated and reopened as part of Cuyahoga Valley National Park. Photograph Courtesy of NPS Collection

The Clean Water Act inspired both governmental agencies and volunteer groups to clean out waterways across the U.S. It also spurred the creation of the 33,000-acre Cuyahoga National Recreation Area, which the NPS designated in 1974 to protect and restore one quarter of the length of the Cuyahoga River. It was named a national park in 2000.

The NPS continues to purchase private land adjacent to national parks and recreation areas, removing manmade structures and environmental hazards with the goal of restoring areas to their natural states. That’s what it did in 1985 in the Cuyahoga National Recreation Area, when it acquired the Krejci salvage yard, which had been operated by John Krejci. Sr., and his family for more than 30 years.

From Superfund Site to Wetlands

An Environmental Protection Agency study found that the Krejci dump was contaminated with toxic and hazardous waste including PCBs, benzene, cadmium, and lead.

The U.S. government filed a “Superfund” lawsuit in 1997, a legal action that can hold polluters financially responsible. Fences, signs, and barricades went up, and the long process of reversing the damage began.

A 2006 photo shows the Krejci dump site after toxic soil had been removed. The resulting ravines had to be shored up as part of a $50 to $60 million clean up. Photograph Courtesy of NPS Collection

“The river here was dead. Not like just a few fish, but no fish. It had zero oxygen in places,” says Chris Davis, a Plant Ecologist for Cuyahoga Valley National Park. “Krejci was a ‘biological desert,’ meaning almost nothing could live in the area.”

The EPA administrates Superfund sites, forcing the parties responsible for the pollution to fund cleanups. For the Krejci site, six companies, including Ford and General Motors, shelled out between $50 and $60 million. “The total cost was exorbitant; it was the largest cleanup by far in National Park Service history,” says Davis.

Cleanup and reclamation efforts began shortly after the Superfund case was settled in 2002. Ford paid for and organized the removal of 375,00 tons of contaminated soil in 2002, which required machines to dig to a depth of up to 25 feet. The park service began naturalizing the area in 2012, grading the soil and recreating 3.5 acres of seasonal wetlands and planting native grasses, wildflowers, and sedges.

A Natural Wonderland Reborn

Today, the former Krejci dump is a site of environmental renewal. Located in the central region of the park, it’s a plant- and animal-filled seasonal marshland teeming with wildflowers, Jefferson salamanders, American toads, bald eagles, and woodcocks.

“If someone is interested in habitat restoration, there’s no better place,” says Davis. “This was a toxic wasteland only a few decades ago. To find this diversity of species there today is remarkable.”

Wetlands and seasonal wildflowers now dominate the former Krejci dump site. Photograph By Chris Davis, National Park Service

No official trails, facilities, or bridges exist in the Krejci acres yet. For now, the best way to see the dump-turned-dreamland is by driving along Hines Hill Road between Brandywine Falls and the Boston Mill Visitors Center. A pull-off on the eastern side of the road accesses a small trail into the area; Davis calls it “a nice, quiet place to contemplate nature.”

It’s just one of many restored and reclaimed sites within the national park. Nearly three million people visited it in 2021 to bike and walk along the Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath trail, canoe in the river, or snap photos of Brandywine Falls, a 65-foot-tall waterfall that plunges into a gorge.

One of the earliest restoration efforts in the Cuyahoga Valley park happened in 1984 when Cleveland- and Akron-area Sierra Club members worked with the NPS to clear out another auto scrapyard. Those efforts led to the popular Beaver Marsh zone in the southern half of the park. Now, it’s among the park’s most-visited spots, where joggers, bikers, or walkers cross a 565-foot-long boardwalk to see dam-building beavers or painted turtles bobbing amid lily pads.

Sierra Club member Peg Bobel remembers that original cleanup. “The visible pollution in the river was just heartbreaking,” she says. “The hands-on, grassroots environmental movement and the national laws being passed worked hand-in-hand.”

— Shannon Bohle is an Ohio technology and science writer whose work has appeared in Nature and the Journal of the Medical Library Association.

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phgq · 4 years

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Makati tops DILG-NCR evaluation on Manila Bay restoration program

#PHinfo: Makati tops DILG-NCR evaluation on Manila Bay restoration program

MAKATI CITY, Jan. 16 (PIA) -- The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) has recognized Makati City first among local government units in Metro Manila in clearing creeks and waterways, and in managing solid and liquid waste aimed at rehabilitating Manila Bay and its related water systems.

In 2019, Makati bested 16 other localities in the National Capital Region, garnering a total score of 96.4 percent for compliance with a Supreme Court ruling which mandates LGUs in Metro Manila and surrounding provinces to strictly monitor compliance of establishments and residences with environmental laws aimed to prevent sewage water and industrial and human wastes from polluting rivers, esteros and other waterways that form part of the tributary systems of the Manila Bay. The DILG monitors compliance of LGUs.

In response, Mayor Abby Binay said she was thankful that all the hard work of the city to clean up its waterways and fulfil its role in the restoration of Manila Bay to its former glory have paid off.

“We have been working hard for over three years now to clean up our waterways and rid them of solid and liquid wastes to make a significant impact on ongoing efforts to restore Manila Bay to its former glory. We are heartened by the remarkable progress we have made,” Mayor Abby said.

The mayor noted that in 2017, Makati ranked 14th in the said assessment, and then jumped 10 spots to fourth place in 2018, which merited the “Most Improved LGU” Award from DILG-NCR in that year.

“This kind of validation inspires the city government and personnel to continue working hard and putting our best foot forward to proactively implement environmental laws and policies in our city,” the mayor said.

January of last year, the city government started its compliance with the DILG Memorandum Circular No. 2019-09, which requires the local government to have a weekly waterways cleanup within its jurisdiction. The Solid Waste Management Division of the Department of Environmental Services SWMD-DES), together with the Department of Engineering and Public Works (DEPW) and Barangay Taga-Linis staff and volunteers, have regularly cleaned up creeks, esteros and canals throughout the city. During the first half of the year, some 230,000 kilograms of solid waste were collected by the composite team.

The DEPW has also conducted regular drainage declogging operations, where the group had hauled 54,745 metric tons of solid waste during the same period.

The Office of the Building Official has also inspected 2,060 septic tanks of commercial establishments to ensure their compliance with government standards, while the Makati Health Department – Health Inspection Division has inspected 59,156 private residences.

Water bodies being monitored and maintained in District I include Tripa de Gallina in Barangays Bangkal and San Isidro; Malugay Creek in Bel-Air; Morado Creek, Dasmarinas; Maricaban Creek in Forbes Park and Magallanes; Sta. Clara Creek in Kasilawan; Calatagan Creek in Palanan; P. Medina Creek in Pio del Pilar; PNR Creek in San Antonio; Hidalgo Creek in San Lorenzo; Sta. Ana Creek in Tejeros; and the Canal Drainage System in Singkamas and Urdaneta.

For District II, these are Pateros-Comembo River in Comembo; Pasig-Pateros River in East Rembo; For the Boys Creek in Cembo; San Jose Creek, Guadalupe Nuevo; Balisampan Creek, Guadalupe Viejo and Pinagkaisahan; Mullen Creek, Pembo; Pasig River along Poblacion; Teachers Compound, JP Rizal Canal in P.P. Northside; Maricaban Creek, P.P. Southside; Paloma Creek, Rizal; San Jose Creek, South Cembo; and Pasig River and Canals in West Rembo.

Based on the guidelines of the Manila Bay Clean-up, Rehabilitation and Preservation Program (MBCRPP), the DILG has assessed the LGUs in four categories. Liquid Waste Management monitors the discharging of waste water into Manila Bay; Solid Waste Management is based on the reduction of solid waste flowing through Manila Bay; Informal Settlers’ Families (ISF) which deals with the removal of any encroachments along rivers and other waterways in the Manila Bay regions; and lastly, Information Education Communication (IEC) management.

Task Force Makati Waterways, created unde DES, functions as the leading team to review, implement, submit and assess the rehabilitation programs of the city to revive its rivers, esteros, and waterways.

The task force is composed of DES, DEPW, OBO, Sangguniang Panlungsod ng Makati, Office of the City Administrator, Law Department, Urban Development Department, Makati Health Department, Makati Social Welfare Department, Liga ng mga Barangay, DILG-Makati, Budget Department, Human Resource Development Office, Information and Community Relations Department, Makati Police, and two water concessionaires, Manila Water and Maynilad. (PIA NCR)

***

References:

* Philippine Information Agency. "Makati tops DILG-NCR evaluation on Manila Bay restoration program." Philippine Information Agency. https://pia.gov.ph/news/articles/1032898 (accessed January 16, 2020 at 02:10PM UTC+08).

* Philippine Infornation Agency. "Makati tops DILG-NCR evaluation on Manila Bay restoration program." Archive Today. https://archive.ph/?run=1&url=https://pia.gov.ph/news/articles/1032898 (archived).

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