Mill Creek (Ohio)

The Mill Creek is a stream in southwest Ohio. It flows 26 miles southwest and south from its headwaters in Liberty Township of Butler County through central Hamilton County and the heart of Cincinnati, Ohio into the Ohio River just west of downtown. The section of Interstate 75 through Cincinnati is also known as the Mill Creek Expressway.

The stream, with its water power and valley, were important to the development of Cincinnati. Then, for a time, the steep hillsides that surround the creek limited expansion and gave impetus to the free growth of surrounding communities that were over that barrier. Finally, inclined planes solved the problem, before highways and automobiles eliminated it.

Pollution problem

Over a half million people live in its drainage basin. Canalization by the Army Corp of Engineers has added to sewage and run off problems caused by intense urbanization. Industrial plants, including those of AK Steel, Procter & Gamble, Formica, and the Ford Motor Company, line the creek's banks. Its drainage comes from over 30 jurisdictions (towns, cities, and townships) and includes five Superfund sites.

In 1992 the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency conducted a water quality and biological survey of Mill Creek. They found high levels of lead and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in creek sediments, aquatic organisms were found to be pollution tolerant, and high levels of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) were found in fish tissue. Canalization to prevent flooding was shown to have adversely affected habitat for aquatic life.

Crossings

A number of substantial viaducts cross the valley of the Mill Creek. From south to north, the crossings - both high above and near the water level - are:

• CSX Transportation rail spur
• Sixth Street Expressway/Waldvogel Viaduct (U.S. Route 50/State Route 264)
• Sixth Street and the Indiana and Ohio Railway "Ditch Track"
• CSX "Oklahoma Track" on the Indiana Subdivision
• CSX "Cincinnati Industrial Track" (former Toledo Subdivision main track)
• Eighth Street Viaduct
• Gest Street
• Western Hills Viaduct
• Hopple Street Viaduct
• Millcreek Road
• Spring Grove Avenue
• Interstate 74/U.S. Route 27/U.S. Route 52
• Ludlow Viaduct

North of here, all crossings are low-level.

See also

• List of Ohio rivers

References

• Ohio Environmental Protection Agency. Mill Creek, 2004

External links

• Mill Creek Restoration Project
• Mill Creek Watershed Council