Help Save Gorge Metro Park and the Cuyahoga River
Support Metro Parks, Serving Summit County and Friends of the Crooked River!
Please attend hearings conducted by:
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, July 27. 2005
Sheraton Suites
1989 Front St.
Cuyahoga Falls
9:30 a.m. and/or 6:30 p.m.
Advanced Hydro Solutions Proposal Green Energy? Brown Valley!
Metro Hydroelectric Company, LLC, proposes to restore electrical generation at the existing Ohio Edison Gorge Dam on the Cuyahoga River in Akron, Ohio. The applicant claims that the project will have no impact on the park and little impact on the river. In fact, the project will significantly and negatively impact both the river and the park. Despite the clearly stated objections of Metro Parks, Serving Summit County, Friends of the Crooked River, and other organizations,
Metro Hydroelectric Company, a for profit company, proposes to utilize Gorge Dam to produce a miniscule amount of hydro-electricity; the plan projects to generate electricity for no more than 2,000 homes
The proposal will negatively impact Gorge Metro Park and the mission of the Metro Parks, Serving Summit County, to hold land in stewardship for all people; this proposal will aesthetically degrade the bank of the Cuyahoga River as it passes through the Metro Park.
The project will construct roads on park property, and deforest acres of mature trees on steep slopes, this proposal will accelerate soil erosion and sedimentation into the Cuyahoga River. Soils are unstable and there may be geotechnical issues on the property.
The project will degrade water quality; the project will reduce flows for a 600 feet section of the River. The lowering of flow of the Cuyahoga River will impact the combined sewer discharges from local municipalities and dispersal of untreated waste into the River
The project will jeopardize fish populations, particularly of the Northern Monkshood, that has recently repopulated in the section of the Cuyahoga River that will be directly impacted
The project will threaten endangered species and biodiversity. U.S. Fish and Wildlife has identified a rare plant species just upstream that will be uprooted if the proposal is to be accepted. This plant species has not been located anywhere else in the country
The project will reduce white water for recreational paddlers
Past hydro-electric operations at this dam produced so little energy they were abandoned 50 years ago. Recent studies concerning reactivating hydro-electric production rejected the possibility as not worth the effort. If approved, the license will be held for fifty years
The project will delay for 50 years the demise of the Ohio Edison dam and the restoration of the natural falls for which Cuyahoga Falls is named. True economic potential is to have the dam removed to realize the spectacular attraction the likes of which Ohio currently does not have. The long term economic potential to remove the dam could generate millions of dollars in tourist monies that would come from recreational use of the river, as well as those traveling to view the spectacular view of the Cuyahoga Falls.
Your attendance really counts. Come and show your support for our park and river.
For more information contact:
Elaine Marsh
Friends of the Crooked River
330.657.2055
ohgreenway@aol.com
or
Mike Johnson
Metro Parks Serving Summit County
330.634.0287,
mjohnson@summitmetroparks.org