Divers Move Mussels Ahead of USACE Emergency Levee Project
EnviroScience divers relocated mussels in Massilon, Ohio ahead of a USACE Huntington District emergency levee project. We were recently featured on IndeOnline.com in an excellent article written by Amy Knapp. Check out the article for more information on the project and to view some fantastic images captured onsite.
The following is a preview from the article:
“A crew from EnviroScience, a Stow-based company providing ecological services such as aquatic surveys, wetlands locating and lake management, has been removing the mussels from an area of the river that will be impacted by a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers $23 million levee improvement project. Philip Mathias is a malacologist, the branch of zoology that deals with mollusks. He said the group has been on the river for a few weeks and will be there until all of the Massillon mussels are moved.
Using a grid to mark the area, they are removing the small creatures from the river beginning at Newman Creek, near Lake Avenue bridge, to the Cherry Street bridge. Mathias said they will have about 400 grid sites before completing the job. In Ohio, there are 60 species of freshwater mussels. The mussels are protected by state law and anytime their habitat is disturbed, they have to be relocated out of the way, he said. They are not edible.”
Learn more about EnviroScience’s freshwater mussel capabilities, as well as other types of diving, here.