NOAA and its fellow Natural Resource Damage Assessment trustees in the Deepwater Horizon oil spill have announced the signing of a formal Record of Decision to implement a gulf restoration plan. The 44 projects, totaling an estimated $627 million, will restore barrier islands, shorelines, dunes, underwater grasses and oyster beds.
T NOAA is partnering with Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida projects as part of a plan to restore Gulf of Mexico resources following the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil disaster. NOAA photohis announcement marks the largest suite of gulf early restoration projects selected thus far in the wake of the 2010 oil disaster, NOAA says. The projects aim to address a range of injuries to natural resources and the subsequent loss of recreational use.
"Preserving, protecting and restoring natural resources is an integral part of our efforts to foster resilience in communities nationwide, including those affected by the Deep Water Horizon oil spill," says Kathryn D. Sullivan, Ph.D., undersecretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and NOAA administrator. "These projects reflect an earnest commitment to the gulf and will enhance the region's economic, social and ecological resilience in the future."
As outlined in the Final Programmatic and Phase III Early Restoration Plan and Early Restoration Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement, NOAA says it is supporting an overall Early Restoration plan that includes both ecological and human use projects. It is also fully supporting 44 specific projects to address injury across the gulf. Of those, the agency is directly involved in the implementation of four projects.
The largest NOAA project partnership will be with Louisiana to fund and restore beach, dune, and back-barrier marsh habitat on Chenier Ronquille, a barrier island off the state’s coast. Chenier Ronquille is one of four barrier islands proposed for restoration as part of the Louisiana Outer Coast Restoration Project that NOAA, the U.S. Department of Interior and Louisiana will implement. The total cost to restore the four barrier islands is expected to be $318 million.
Alabama, Florida, Mississippi and NOAA will partner to undertake three “living shorelines” projects. These projects involve a blend of restoration technologies used to stabilize shorelines and restore fish and wildlife habitat.
NOAA will work with Alabama to fully implement the Swift Tract Living Shoreline Project. This $5 million project will construct approximately 1.6 miles of breakwaters covered with oyster shell to reduce shoreline erosion, protect salt marsh habitat, and restore ecosystem diversity and productivity in Mobile Bay.
Restoration experts expect that over time, the breakwaters will develop into reefs, providing added reproductive and foraging habitat and shelter from predators. The 615-acre state-owned Swift Tract site is located in Bon Secour Bay and is part of the NOAA-supported Weeks Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve.
NOAA and Florida will partner in the Florida Pensacola Bay Living Shoreline Project to restore shoreline at two sites along the Pensacola waterfront. Project Greenshores Site II is located immediately west of Muscogee Wharf in downtown Pensacola.
Restoration at PGS Site II has been planned in conjunction with the Sanders Beach site, three miles to the west. Both proposed sites feature breakwaters that will provide four acres of reef habitat and protect the 18.8 acres of salt marsh habitat that will be created through this project. The Pensacola project is expected to cost about $11 million.
NOAA will also partner with Mississippi to improve nearly six miles of shoreline as part of the proposed Hancock County Marsh Living Shoreline Project. The project aims to reduce shoreline erosion by dampening wave energy and encouraging reestablishment of habitat in the region. The estimated cost is $50 million.
These projects will be funded through the $1 billion BP has provided to the trustees as part of the 2011 Framework Agreement on early restoration.
Ten early restoration projects already are in various stages of implementation as part of the first two phases of early restoration.
Early restoration provides an opportunity to implement restoration projects agreed upon by the trustees and BP prior to the completion of the full natural resource damage assessment and restoration plan. BP and other responsible parties are obligated to compensate the public for the full scope of the natural resource injury and lost use caused by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, including the cost of assessing such injury and planning for restoration.
