The Ohio EPA is trying to rally support to fund the removal of the Gorge Dam on the Cuyahoga River in Summit County.
The agency, along with local partners, needs to raise 35 percent of the project’s cost before it can go forward.
Spokeswoman Lindey Amer says, even if the matching funds are raised, the federal government decides the additional funding in a competitive process.
“It’s a very much in-flux kind of situation where you apply for the funding and, depending on whether that project is considered a fundable project, you may or may not get funded.”
The Ohio EPA would like to have the Gorge Dam removal project approved by 2019. That timetable would coincide with the 50th anniversary of the Cuyahoga River fire, which helped spark the creation of the U.S. EPA.