AVON LAKE — Channels flowing in and out of Orion Power Midwest’s generator facility on Lake Road will have to be dredged as regular maintenance, Mayor Karl Zuber said.

Ohio Environmental Protection Agency spokesman Mike Settles said silt is blocking the flow of cooling water to the power station’s cooling units. The power plant is on the shoreline near Miller Road Park.

About 50,000 cubic yards of silt will be raked out of the water and moved from the plant’s intake on Lake Erie, and another 10,000 cubic yards will be scraped from the area where water flows from the plant back into the lake, he said.

Settles said the dredging is routine but still requires a permit from the EPA because it will impact the quality of water in Lake Erie.

“My guess is this has been a number of years since they’ve cleaned out those intake areas,” he said. “But these dredging situations are fairly normal business, so the impact should be pretty minimal to aquatic life or the biological health of the lake.”

Plans drawn up by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers show the silt will be either put in a storage area, along a local beach or in a landfill.

The public can give input to EPA or voice concerns in a meeting 6:30 p.m. Thursday at Avon Lake Public Library on Electric Boulevard.

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