OPINION

More aquatic creatures will follow catfish to extinction if Big Darby Creek not protected

Will Harlan and Kim Landsbergen
Guest columnists
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service removed  23 species, the  Scioto madtom included from the Endangered Species Act list due to extinction.

A fish found only in Ohio’s Big Darby Creek is gone forever.

The Scioto madtom — a marbled, cream-colored, nocturnal catfish — was declared extinct earlier this month by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Pollution in Big Darby Creek was singled out as one of the likely causes of the madtom’s disappearance.

More:Ohio's Scioto madtom removed from endangered list due to extinction

Pollution in the 84-mile river may soon increase if an expansion permit for the Plain City Wastewater Treatment Plant is approved. The village of Plain City wants to double its wastewater discharges into Big Darby Creek, which will jeopardize five more endangered species.

Rabbitsfoot mussels are considered at-risk aquatic species in Kansas.

They are rare, beautiful freshwater mussels as colorful and unique as their names: rabbitsfoot, rayed bean, northern riffleshell, clubshell and snuffbox.

Kim Landsbergen is a senior certified ecologist based in Columbus, a resident of Ohio for 20 years, and an Associate Professor of Biology and Environmental Science at Antioch College.

These mussels are nature’s wastewater-treatment plants, filtering out pollutants and cleaning our rivers for free. They once lined the banks of Big Darby Creek for miles; now only a handful of small populations remains. All are protected by the U.S. Endangered Species Act.

An additional 37 species of rare fish and mussels are also threatened by the wastewater plant expansion.

Already these species’ populations are declining. An increase in discharges from the Plain City Wastewater Treatment Plant will almost certainly lead to degraded aquatic habitat — and more extinctions.

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The toxic discharges aren’t good for people, either. The effluent from Plain City’s treatment plant includes heavy metals like mercury, arsenic, cadmium and lead. Microplastics, pesticides, hormones and pharmaceuticals are also part of the effluent that will double under the proposed permit.

Researchers look underwater as they search during a freshwater mussel survey on Tuesday, August 29, 2017 in Big Darby Creek in Darbydale, Ohio. [Joshua A. Bickel/Dispatch]
Will Harlan is a staff scientist and senior campaigner at the Center for Biological Diversity.

Columbus is one of very few cities in the country to have a national scenic river adjacent to it. Big Darby brings clean water, ecosystem services, diverse habitat and recreational opportunities to the area, and its scenic stretch provides far more health, recreation, wildlife and economic benefits than poorly planned sprawl along the banks.

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Upstream, Big Darby Creek provides clean water and protects our communities’ health and heritage. The waterway is classified as a national scenic river, a state scenic river and an outstanding state water, and it’s one of the most beloved and biologically diverse creeks in the country.

It offers the best canoeing and smallmouth bass fishing in Ohio, and hundreds of species of birds, fish and other wildlife call it home.

But downstream of the wastewater plant, Big Darby Creek fails even to meet Clean Water Act standards, and many of its renowned fish and mussels are absent. As a result, Big Darby Creek was declared one of the country’s Top 10 Most Endangered Rivers in 2019. Expanding the wastewater plant will accelerate the sprawl development and pollution that are degrading the river.

The Plain City wastewater plant expansion proposal eventually calls for quadrupling its capacity to facilitate increased development along its banks. If the wastewater permit is approved, substantially more sprawl, storm water runoff and pollution would devastate a celebrated national treasure right in our backyard.

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Ohio EPA should not approve any increased wastewater discharges into Big Darby Creek until it cooperatively develops a conservation plan for the area. There’s precedent for this: Communities in Franklin County have already created the Big Darby Accord to help protect the river from reckless development.

Columbus’s national scenic river needs more protection and less toxic wastewater. Ultimately, it needs designation as an outstanding national scenic water, the highest protection available.

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Unless local and state leaders prioritize protecting Big Darby Creek and its clean water, one of the country’s most pristine streams will be irreparably damaged by reckless development — and more mussel and fish species will join the extinct Scioto madtom. We will have lost local treasures that can never be replaced.

Will Harlan is a staff scientist and senior campaigner at the Center for Biological Diversity.

Kim Landsbergen is a senior certified ecologist based in Columbus and an Associate Professor of Biology and Environmental Science at Antioch College.