The Mahoning River contains five low-head dams which were used in the late 19th and early 20th centuries to use the force of the water flow to create power in order to run grain mills, generate electricity, and create water retention areas.

While most of the original needs for low-head dams have long vanished, the dams have not, and the drowning danger from them still exists.

According to the American Society of Civil Engineers website, more than 1,400 fatalities have occurred at structures in rivers like low-head dams, which have caused more deaths in the last 20 years in the U.S. than any other kind of dam.

On May 3, 2020, Lisa Zitello, an Austintown resident, nearly drowned after her kayak tipped a low-head dam along the Mahoning River in Warren. Zitello has been in a coma since her canoe capsized near the dam in the Mahoning River. 

This afternoon, the Cleveland law firm of Peiffer Wolf Carr Kane Conway & Wise filed a lawsuit in the Court of Common Pleas in Trumbull County on behalf of the Zitello family. The lawsuit is against the city of Warren in the near-drowning of Zitello which happened at the Summit Road low-head dam. City police and a bystander were able to rescue the then 41-year-old woman from the river. 

At the time of the incident, Warren Fire Department Fire Chief Ken Nussle called the low-head dam on the river a “drowning machine.”

This is not the first incident near the dam in Warren. In 2017, a 12-year-old girl almost drowned near the Summit Road dam.

Ashlie Case Sletvold, partner, Peiffer Wolf, said during the press conference "This is not the first time an unsuspecting boater has drowned or nearly drowned going over the Summit Street dam. The City of Warren had an obligation to warn people of this deadly hazard. This is particularly true as Valley residents looked for outdoor activities in which they could safely engage during the COVID pandemic."

Joe Schiavoni, former Ohio Senate minority leader and attorney with Peiffer Wolf, said: "This tragedy never should have occurred, and it would not have taken place if the City of Warren had replaced the warning buoys and installed adequate warnings for unsuspecting boaters. It's unconscionable that the city could be aware of such a deadly hazard, which it's openly called a 'drowning machine,' but fail to protect its residents and visitors."

According to the American Society of Civil Engineers website, there is no single source of all the low head dam locations in the United States. The ASCE states the increased risk of injury or death what it also calls drowning machines at dam sites are created by water churning in a reverse current which causes continuous and forcible dunking.

The reverse current also causes buoyancy reduction, which can lead to drowning.

According to the news release, the attorneys from the law firm Peiffer Wolf Carr Kane Conway & Wise, who are representing the victim and her family, will hold an in-person news conference to discuss the lawsuit against the city, which is expected will be filed Thursday, April 28, in the Court of Common Pleas in Trumbull County.

The news release also stated “Low-head dams such as the Summit Street dam present an extreme risk to anyone who enters or navigates the river. Such dams appear harmless to unsuspecting boaters, but they are very dangerous because of the turbulence at the base of the dam that can trap victims underwater. Nationally, low-head dams are responsible for roughly 50 deaths every year.”

21 News has reached out the Warren City Mayor Doug Franklin's office, to Warren city Law Director Enzo Cantalamessa's office for comment, but has not heard back. The city has been looking to remove the dam since the March of 2021.

April 25 was Warren's deadline for submissions to file for a statement of qualification for potential bidding on the removal of the Summit Street low-head dam.

According to Paul Makosky, Director of Engineering, Planning and Building Department for the city of Warren, only one group submitted a statement of qualification for removing the dam. RiverReach Construction from Barberton submitted a statement, and now the city and the Ohio EPA will review the filing and then will ask for a bid on the project. According to Makosky, the entire project will cost approximately $3.2 million, which includes everything from the needed permits to demolition, sediment removal, and restoration.

Makosky stated the engineering firm of ms consultants, inc. from Youngstown, along with Eastgate Regional Council of Governments, has done a preliminary evaluation for the dam removal, and that Eastgate has procured some of the needed funding, along with the city of Warren, to set the plan in motion.

Makosky said the Summit Street dam removal will take approximately one year to a year and a half to complete.

This story will be updated after the March 28 press conference when the family of Lisa Zitello is expected to speak.

According to the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) website, April is “Low-Head Dam Public Safety Awareness Month.”