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Director: Ohio Unlikely To Allow Sediment Dumping In Lake

Ohio's environmental regulators are unlikely to allow a federal agency to begin dumping sediment from Cleveland's shipping channels into Lake Erie. 

The head of the state's Environmental Protection Agency said Friday that a decision hasn't been made. But Craig Butler says the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers hasn't swayed him into thinking the sediment is safe enough for the lake. The Army Corps sent out a letter this past week saying its scientists believe the sediment isn't contaminated and won't hurt the lake. The two sides have been locked in a long-running dispute over what to do with the sediment dredged from Cleveland's harbor. The Ohio EPA sued the Army Corps last year after it threatened to stop dredging until Ohio paid to put the material in a containment facility.