Site History: Bayou Verdine has been impacted by releases of
hazardous substances since the area around the bayou was developed for
industrial purposes. Chemical manufacturing and petroleum refining facilities
were established in the vicinity of Calcasieu Parish around the early 1920s
when oil and natural gas deposits were discovered in the area. Since that time,
the amount of industrial development in the watershed has increased greatly to
include over 30 major industries.
Location: Lake Charles, Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana.
Trustees:
Case status:
-
Injury assessment underway
-
Restoration planning underway
-
Emergency removal complete, additional removal is in planning stage
Overview: Bayou Verdine is a small tributary of the Calcasieu
River, in the upper Calcasieu Estuary. It originates in an agricultural area
and then flows through both residential and industrial areas before joining the
river at the Coon Island Loop.
Natural resources have been harmed by hazardous substances present in sediments
in Bayou Verdine and Coon Island Loop. The sediment contamination includes
heavy metals, PAHs, and volatile compounds and has primarily impacted benthic
resources, including marine worms, blue crabs, bottom dwelling fish and their
habitat. Much of the contamination is due to historical releases from two
refining facilities located along the bayou (currently owned/operated by
ConocoPhillips Company and Sasol North America Inc.) which have been in
production for decades. The contamination in the bayou sediments prompted an
emergency removal of sediments in 2002-2003 from the West Ditch area at
Conoco’s facility, under EPA’s oversight. Additional sediment removal (i.e.,
dredging of areas within the bayou’s main channel) has been approved by EPA but
has not yet been implemented.
State and federal natural resource trustees
are conducting a natural resource damage assessment (NRDA) for Bayou
Verdine and Coon Island Loop. ConocoPhillips and Sasol North
America, the potentially responsible parties (PRPs), have been
cooperating with the Trustees in the NRDA process. On March 27,
2009, the Trustees’ jointly released the Draft Damage Assessment and
Restoration Plan and Environmental Assessment (DARP/EA) for Bayou
Verdine, Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana for a 60-day public review
period. It describes the Trustees’ proposed assessment of natural
resource injuries and service losses in the bayou and the Loop
attributable to the PRPs’ facilities and the restoration actions
identified for use to compensate for those losses. Comments on the
plan received during the comment period (60-days) will be considered
before adopting a Final DARP/EA.
LDNR is a designated CERCLA trustee in Louisiana, but is not
participating directly in the NRDA process for this site because the
resource impacts are outside Louisiana’s defined coastal zone, the
area of LDNR trust interest. The Trustees have consulted with and
kept LDNR informed during the process to ensure there were no
potential impacts to LDNR trust resources within the scope of the
Bayou Verdine NRDA.
