Warren Township trustee Ryan Yoho points to established science that he said indicates if the Leavittsburg dam is removed, it would cause increased water pressure, leading to erosion and slothing of the concrete that supports the bridges along the 100-year-old dam.

"So the soils that are there have been wet for all these years," Yoho said, "When that water comes out and they dry out, nobody's sure of what stability that soil will have. Sloughing is where it will come down and fall into the river."

Deb Roth, President of Our Lives Count group, said other places in Ohio have seen this happen.

"Several years ago, in New Philadelphia, Tuscarawas County, Ohio, a dam was removed in that in that town by river reach, which is the general contractor for the project on the Leavittsburg dam. Two days after that dam was removed, their roads collapsed," Roth said. 

Both also said demolishing the dam would disperse pollution in the water that's otherwise contained.

"The other worry we have is that rain-high flood events, rushes of water will wear away the top layer that has encapsulated this sludge filled with very bad stuff," Yoho said, "and then bring it back to the surface, to where we're dealing with it for many years to come."

A spokesperson with the Trumbull County Metro Parks Board said the board is withholding comment at this time, but that the chair is forwarding these concerns to its project engineers and likely won't have answers until after the new year.