The city of Lorain could see a boost in recreation after it received a $1.6 million grant from the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency to improve two public fishing and park areas. Lorain Mayor Jack Bradley announced July 11 that the federal government authorized the grant to improve the popular Sunset Pier Park and the Hot Waters Boating Access. This upgrades and improvements should give more access to anglers, both local and from afar.
Bradley was elated the city will receive the funds to renovate the sites. Both locations are part of the city’s long-term ongoing plan to redevelop the waterfront. The Sunset Pier Park Project will redevelop a prominent area known as the “Finger Piers.
” City officials have indicated that the amenities at Sunset Pier Park could include a community amphitheater, trails and fishing areas within a natural setting. And the Hot Waters Boating Access, which is the only free public boat launch in Lorain, is heavily used by the boating public. Hot Waters provides equitable recreational opportunities in a disadvantaged community and will replace the concrete launch ramp, the deteriorated floating docks and the failed bulkhead.
It won’t stop there, because additional boating and fishing centered amenities are planned for the park. The primary focus is to improve public access at both locations to Lake Erie and the Black River. One specific use of the EPA grant is to plan, design and construct a new boat ramp at Hot Waters.
City officials recognized the need for improvement at the boat launch, which is why the city sought the grant. But, the goal of the two projects is pretty simple, but needed: to allow more citizens to enjoy the Lake Erie shoreline and all that comes with it such as its beautiful and breathtaking sunsets. The grant agreement runs from August 2024 through July 2026, during which the planning and construction of the two projects will be completed.
One of the positive aspects of the grant is the city wasn’t required to provide any matching funds. Bradley credited Kate Golden, storm water manager of the city’s Engineering Department, for the work she did to obtain the federal EPA grant. The United States EPA approved the grant under its mission to protect human health and the environment.
The EPA works to ensure that Americans have clean air, land and water. But, it hasn’t always been good fishing on the Black River. In January 2021, the United States EPA announced the Black River had improved its conditions and that the tributary has a bright future.
The agency acknowledged Lorain County’s main waterway is recovering from the era when erosion, trash and chemicals made it an unsightly mess. That development was a historic moment for Lorain and the Black River. It was the 100th time the EPA formally recognized environmental improvement along the 43 most degraded waterways, known as areas of concern, around the Great Lakes.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine acknowledged the state worked hard for many years to improve the Black River Area of Concern. State, federal and local efforts led to the removal of the beneficial use impairment for aesthetics.
Clean and safe water for Ohio is one of the greatest investments for the state. DeWine referred to the beneficial use impairment, or BUI, the technical phrase for a change in the chemical, physical or biological integrity of the Great Lakes system sufficient to cause significant environmental degradation. The environmental regulators use 14 beneficial use impairments as criteria to measure the ecological health of the waterways.
Examples include restrictions on fish consumption, fish tumors or other deformities and beach closures. At the Black River Area of Concern, the EPA removed the “degradation of aesthetics” beneficial use impairment that was caused by environmental issues dating back decades. Those issues included upland erosion, mill dams, stream channelization and modifications, litter and trash dumping, and oil and grease deposition.
With the removal of the beneficial use impairment, other federal, state and municipal programs now in place will address any future sources of oil or grease and litter or trash. That announcement from the federal EPA in 2021 and the $1.6 million grant this year from the agency bodes well for the Black River and Lake Eire.
The improvements and renovations coming to Sunset Pier Park and to Waters Boating Access certainly will give anglers a hot spot for some great fishing..
