Projects to Compensate for Lost Visitor Use of National Historic Site Resources  - The oil spill and grounding caused a reduction in visitor services at San Juan National Historic Site for approximately six weeks. Visitation at the El Morro and San Cristobal forts was severely affected. Several alternative projects to address lost use of the historic site were reviewed, and three were chosen. They are listed in priority order below:

1. Improve the El Morro Coastal Promenade extending it from its current terminus at the Water Battery eastward to connect with an existing stairway accessing the upper levels of the fort.
2. Restore the El Morro Water Battery, stabilizing and preserving its historic interior and exterior surfaces and the adjacent exterior walls that face the shoreline ecosystem and recreational trails.
3. Clean and stabilize exterior walls of historic site including approximately 25,000 square feet of the exterior wall of El Morro adjacent to the Water Battery.

As of January 2009, the design of the Coastal Promenade extension (project no. 1 above) has been completed, and construction is scheduled for early 2009. Work on projects 2 and 3 will be performed after the Coastal Promenade extension project is completed.

Tarps and booms were used to protect the sea walls from the oil that spread along the shoreline of northeast Puerto Rico. Approximately 103 miles of ocean shorelines and 66 miles of bay shorelines were oiled from the spill. Photo Credit: NOAA/DOC