Source: Historical releases from chemical manufacturing facilities located in the vicinity of Greens Bayou

Release:

• Heavy metals
• DDT and metabolites (DDD, DDE)

Status:

The injury assessment has been completed for the Greens Bayou site. Paralleling TCEQ’s remedial investigations for the Site, NOAA and DOI joined with the State Trustees in an effort to assess the natural resource injuries and service losses attributable to hazardous substances releases at the Site. The Trustees determined that two categories of injury resulted at the Greens Bayou Site, injury to bayou sediments and injury to terrestrial forested wetlands/grasslands. Approximately 6.9 acres of benthic habitat in Greens Bayou were impacted by hazardous substances historically released from the Site. This area and approximately 12.4 acres of additional benthic habitat will likely be impacted by the remedial actions at the Site. The creation of the Confined Dredge Disposal Facility to manage sediments dredged as part of the remedial activities will result in the destruction of approximately 33.6 acres of wooded wetlands and grassland habitats. The work undertaken by the agencies indicated that construction of 10.9 acres of vegetated intertidal wetlands and preservation of 100 acres of forested wetland in the upper Galveston Bay, Buffalo Bayou, or San Jacinto River watersheds would be needed to compensate for these injuries and losses.

On the basis of this information, the Trustees negotiated a settlement of state and federal natural resource damage claims related to the Site in which the PRPs would implement marsh construction and forested wetland preservation projects. On April 3, 2013, the court entered the Consent Decree to finalize the settlement.