WARREN, Ohio – Trumbull County commissioners’ voluntary dismissal of an appeal to stop the removal of the Leavittsburg Dam clears the way for the structure’s demolition.
Commissioners, through legal counsel, filed a motion July 14 to dismiss the appeal. A judge granted the dismissal Monday, court records show.
Warren Township trustees previously announced they would no longer fight the dam’s removal, according to broadcast reports.
Commissioner Rick Hernandez said the dismissal comes after two failed appeal attempts.
“After the second appeal and the judges’ decisions, the commissioners just felt that it was no longer in the interest of the commissioners to follow through to fight this,” especially since township trustees bowed out, he said.
Trumbull County MetroParks, which owns the dam, is moving forward with its removal, the commissioner added.
A June order by the Ohio Environmental Review Appeals Commission allowed the dam demolition when it granted a motion from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency director to dismiss an appeal from Warren Township trustees that sought to stop the dam’s razing.
Earlier last month, the 11th District Court of Appeals overruled a motion for a preliminary injunction to stop the razing of the dam. Township trustees and Trumbull commissioners had appealed a county common pleas court ruling dismissing their attempt to stop removal of the low-head dam. The two entities had asked the appeals court last May for an injunction to halt the dam removal pending their appeal.
The Leavittsburg Dam, built in the early 20th century, is one of six low-head dams slated for removal in the Mahoning River Corridor Revitalization Plan, developed by Eastgate Regional Council of Governments. Trumbull County MetroParks secured grant funding, beginning in 2022, to complete the removal of the dam.
Trustees and commissioners had argued in the common pleas court case, based on a report from engineering company DLZ Inc., that there were risks to removing the dam, including riverbank instability, tree collapses, roadway damage and instability of an older dam in the area.
The township and county commissioners also alleged that if the dam is removed and water levels decrease, residential septic systems submerged in the river and discharging into the water will be exposed, leading to sewage discharging onto the land.
Many township residents had signed a petition opposing the dam removal, but Hernandez said there were others who supported it, believing it would alleviate flooding.