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As a trustee for coastal resources, NOAA protects and restores habitats injured by hazardous waste sites, oil spills and vessel groundings.   RSS Feed RSS Feed
 
Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill

NOAA’s Damage Assessment Remediation and Restoration Program (DARRP) is coordinating data collection efforts with partners in five states (Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, and Texas), and the Department of the Interior (including the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Park Service, and Bureau of Land Management). BP is also participating in many of the data collection efforts.

Together, we are collecting information on potential impacts to fish, shellfish, marine mammals, turtles, birds, and other sensitive resources as well as their habitats, including wetlands, beaches, mudflats, bottom sediments, corals, and the water column. We are also assessing any lost human uses of these resources, such as fishing, hunting, and beach closures. Dozens of teams are in the field conducting daily surveys and collecting samples.

NOAA Assessment Activities

  • Response and assessment teams have surveyed 1,800 miles of shoreline and over 11,000 samples have been collected to date.
  • More than 40 offshore research cruises are characterizing oil on and below the water surface and the impact to biological communities.
  • Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) teams are documenting the presence of oil and collecting oil samples for fingerprinting—to confirm the origin of the oil. Teams are conducting initial injury assessment studies at more than 50 shoreline sites a day to collect data on the degree and extent of habitat oiling.
  • Flyovers monitor populations of marine mammals and turtles, document their presence in impacted areas, and locate stranded animals.
  • Teams are assessing the loss of human uses, such as recreational beach days, boat and fishing trips, due to the spill.

Restoration in the Gulf of Mexico.


A NOAA responder makes oil observations.
NOAA Responds to Pipeline Spill in Michigan

On the morning of July 26, 2010, a failure occurred in a 30-inch diameter pipeline releasing approximately 19,500 barrels (819,000 gallons) of crude oil into a tributary creek of the Kalamazoo River in Marshall, MI. Oil traveled approximately 30 miles downstream in the Kalamazoo River. Containment and absorbent booms have been placed and the oil has not passed Morrow Lake, located about 10 miles east of Kalamazoo, MI. NOAA’s Damage Assessment Remediation and Restoration Program (DARRP) is working with natural resource co-trustees (US Fish and Wildlife Service and the state of Michigan) and with Enbridge (the Responsible Party) to collect information on exposure and potential impacts of the oil spill on fish, mussels, and turtles as well as their habitats, including wetlands, floodplains, bottom sediments, and the water column. Field teams are currently conducting surveys and collecting samples and the trustees are also working to identify resources at risk and develop protocols for future surveys. Highlights of some of these activities include:

  • Several rounds of water sampling have been conducted throughout locations in the affected area and upstream.
  • Rapid boat-based riverbank surveying was conducted to characterize the extent of oiling on riverbanks.
  • Study plans for mussel assessments are being finalized.
  • Field teams have begun collecting smallmouth bass and redhorse suckers to assess their exposure to oil.
  • Trustees are observing and documenting any impacts that result from cleanup work, such as habitat loss when oiled overhanging tree branches must be removed.

Learn more about the response to this spill.


Boeing properties along the Lower Duwamish River

NOAA and Co-Trustees Reach Agreement With Boeing to Restore Fish and Bird Habitat in Lower Duwamish Waterway

Boeing and the Elliott Bay Trustee Council (comprised of NOAA, US Department of Interior, State of Washington, the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe and the Suquamish Tribe) have reached an agreement that will result in the restoration of significant fish and bird habitat in the Lower Duwamish River. The Duwamish River runs through downtown Seattle, WA and contains three Superfund sites related to historical contamination from shipping, manufacturing and other heavy industries. This cooperative negotiated settlement agreement was filed on May 4, 2010 with the court to resolve liability of the Boeing Corporation for injury to natural resources from releases of hazardous substances from Boeing properties along the Lower Duwamish River. The agreement includes two restoration projects (comprising 4.8 acres) creating habitat for out-migrating juvenile salmon, flatfish, crabs and shorebirds. Boeing also agreed to contribute to a long term stewardship fund and repay almost $2 million of the natural resource trustee’s costs. Per USDOJ’s press release , the consent decree is subject to a 30-day public comment period. For additional information about settlements and restoration at this site see the Duwamish case page.


Selected Restoration Alternative Sabine NWR 1999 Unit.Selected Restoration Alternative
Sabine NWR 1999 Unit.
Prepared by Entrix for ERM Southwest, Inc.
August, 2005.

NOAA and Co-Trustees Release Plan for Restoration of Wetlands in Bayou Verdine, Louisiana

NOAA and co-trustees released a plan today to enhance 247 acres of critical coastal wetlands and create an additional 14.7 acres in western Louisiana. The Final Damage Assessment and Restoration Plan and Environmental Assessment (Final DARP) for Bayou Verdine, Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana has been approved by NOAA, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and Louisiana’s Department of Environmental Quality and Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (the Trustees)and is now available to the public. The Final DARP selects a restoration project - the Sabine Unit 1999 Project - for use to compensate for natural resource injuries and service losses in the upper Calcasieu Estuary caused by past releases of hazardous substances from two facilities presently owned and operated by ConocoPhillips Company and Sasol North America Inc., situated along Bayou Verdine. The Trustees’ assessment of these injuries and losses is presented in the Final DARP as well.


Example of CAPRI analysis in the Snohomish Estuary in 2100, displaying an Ecosystem/Species Vulnerability Index.Example of CAPRI analysis in the Snohomish Estuary in 2100, displaying an Ecosystem/Species Vulnerability Index.

New NOAA Pilot for Climate Change Assessment launched in Puget Sound, Washington

Climate change will increase threats to NOAA trust resources. These threats include impacts from flooding or sea-level rise on coastal contaminated waste sites and chemical and oil storage facilities. In response, DARRP developed the Climate Assessment and Proactive Response Initiative (CAPRI) to provide a screening level vulnerability analysis of contaminant impacts in the coastal zone related to climate change. Through the improved understanding of these contaminant impacts to coastal resources, NOAA and other local, state, regional, and federal decision makers will be better able to prepare for and then adapt to climate change. A pilot is underway in the Puget Sound estuary in Washington State to test the methodology, which can be applied to coastal areas around the country. Analytical results will be displayed in the Environmental Response Management Application (ERMA), a user friendly, web based mapping application. To learn more, please visit the CAPRI page on the DARRP Northwest website.



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Revised: Friday, 20-Aug-2010
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