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NOAA's
Damage Assessment, Remediation, and Restoration Program (DARRP) collaborates
with other agencies, industry, and citizens to protect and restore coastal and
marine resources threatened or injured by oil spills, releases of hazardous
substances, and vessel groundings.
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View and Print the DARRP Program's Quick Reference Fact Sheet.
This fact sheet provides a synopsis
of DARRP's mission and work protecting and restoring natural resources on our
nation's coasts. Read about DARRP's injury - to - restoration trusteeship as
well as its cooperative assessment and restoration planning with stakeholders.
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NOAA Continues to Investigate Resource Impacts for Oil Spill in New Orleans
On July 23, a 600-foot chemical tanker and 200-foot fuel barge collided on the
Mississippi River. The barge was torn in half, spilling several hundred
thousand gallons of fuel oil into tthe river near the French Quarter in
downtown New Orleans. The released oil spread 100 miles down the Mississippi
River, resulting in injury to roughly 200 miles of shoreline.
After more than five weeks, NOAA staff are still working with other federal and
state agencies (collectively known as the "Trustees") on pre-assessment
activities at the spill site. Recent field activities have been focused on
shoreline cleanup and the evaluation of bottom sediments in the Mississippi
River where oil from the barge may have been deposited. Of the 198 miles of
shoreline that have been assessed for oiling and cleanup by response personnel,
84% is considered clean. The remaining shoreline under active cleanup is
primarily rip-rap habitat in highly visible area. The Trustees will use
information from the cleanup in combination of aerial and ground habitat oiling
surveys, as well as other information, to determine whether injuries to natural
resources and services occurred from the incident. The assessment activities
occurring in the New Orleans area also will inform approriate restoration
activities to compensate the public for any loss of natural resources resulting
from the spill.
Any eventual restoration project resulting from this spill will contribute to
addressing the larger challenge of protecting and restoring Louisiana's coastal
ecosystem, which is losing an estimated 24 square miles of coastal wetlands a
year.
According to the U.S. Coast Guard, there were an average 1,500 reported oil
spills a year in Louisiana between 1991 through 2004, or about four reported
spills a day. This is in part due to the large volume of oil and gas which pass
through Louisiana's coastal zone: a network of nearly 9,300 miles of oil and
gas pipelines and associated energy facilities are located there. Another major
factor that contributes to the large number of spills is Louisiana's receding
wetlands, which increase exposure of this aging infrastructure to natural and
man-made threats (e.g., tropical storms and vessel collision).
For more information about the Louisiana oil spill, please contact Rachel
Brittin at Rachel.Brittin@noaa.gov
or Michael Jarvis at Michael.Jarvis@noaa.gov.
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Recent Boat Tours Highlight NOAA's Protection and Restoration Efforts
On August 11, staff from the U.S. House of Representatives
Science Committee, the Offices of Senator Maria Cantwell and
Representative Norm Dicks joined staff from NOAA's Damage Assessment,
Remediation, and Restoration Program (DARRP), NMFS Northwest Region, NMFS
Montlake Lab, and NOAA Legislative Affairs for a boat ride across Puget Sound,
a tour of the NMFS Manchester Lab, and a boat tour of South Elliott Bay, and
the Lower Duwamish River, WA. On a second boat tour held that same week, DARRP
and NOAA partners hosted Vice Admiral Conrad C. Lautenbacher, Jr., Under
Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and NOAA Administrator and
David A. Sampson, Deputy Secretary of the Department of Commerce. The goal of
these events was to provide a short overview of NOAA activities in Puget Sound
and how these efforts are coordinated with other Federal and State agencies.
On each of the two tours, the attendees were given an overview of NOAA's
responsibilities under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation,
and Liability Act (CERCLA or Superfund) and the Oil Pollution Act (OPA) - from
response and assessment and ultimately through negotiations and restoration of
the public's injured natural resources. The tour also highlighted a number of
Superfund sites where NOAA is assessing injury along the river, including the
East Waterway and Lower Duwamish River sites, where NOAA is providing advice on
cleanup approaches and negotiating compensatory restoration. For more
information, please contact Jennifer.Steger@noaa.gov
or Mary.Baker@noaa.gov.
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Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet Assessment Project
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Congress requested NOAA to evaluate the potential environmental impact of the
federally owned vessels in Suisun Bay, California. These vessels are maintained
by the United States Maritime Administration and include more than 70 obsolete
or decommissioned ships, sometimes referred to as the "Reserve" or "Mothball
Fleet."
The State of California and several bay area environmental groups have raised
concerns about the environmental impacts, and plans to move the vessels through
San Francisco Bay for eventual scrapping and disposal. Issues range from the
potential presence of heavy metals in paint that is peeling and falling off, to
antifouling agents used in bottom paint on the hulls, to PCBs and other
hazardous materials that may have been released from the ships.
NOAA will be conducting a field investigation and preparing documents to help
address these concerns.
Read more about the Suisun Special Project
for more information, or view the latest, July
2008 Status Report
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Upcoming Events
November 16-20, 2008, Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 29th
Annual Meeting
More than 2,000 attendees, this meeting serves as a platform for
representatives from goverment, business, and academia to exchange ideas,
observe current trends, and present research in their areas of expertise. For
details, see http://tampa.setac.org/
December 8-11, 2008, A Conference on Ecosystem Serivces
ACES will provide a broad and open forum to discuss the latest and most
innovative methods, tools, and processes for assessing ecosystem services. For
details, see http://conference.ifas.ufl.edu/ACES/
February 2-5, 2009 - 5th International Conference on remediation of Contaminated
Sediments
This conference combines scientific and engineering advances in sediment
remediation with assessment and management frameworks, along with governing
policies and regulations to achieve effective environmental protection goals.
For details, see http://www.battelle.org/sedimentscon
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What's New
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Public Meeting on the Status of the Lower Passaic River Restoration to be held
September 10 This quarter's public meeting will be held September 10,
2008 by the partner agencies to provide updates on the status of the Lower
Passaic River Restoration Project and the Newark Bay Study Area. The agenda
will include discussion on the planned removal of sediment in front of Lister
Ave; current sediment sampling and bathymetric survey in the lower 17-miles;
and vegetation sampling and focused ecosystem restoration planning for the
lower 17-mile study area. For more information, contact
Reyhan Mehran.
Grant Grant Funding For Estuarine Research: NOAA seeks to establish a national
estuarine research and technology program which operates in partnership with
the National Estuarine Research Reserve System. Funds are to conduct research
and provide tools to coastal managers on pollution and habitat degradation. For
more information on funding, see
Grants.gov.
Read about recent developments in the Buzzards Bay/Bouchard 120 oil spill case
in the April 2008 Status
Report.
A Draft Restoration Plan and
Environmental Assessment for the Galaxy/Spectron Site was released for
public review and comment, with comments due by April 30th. This plan proposes
removal of fish blockages and stream restoration of Scotchman Creek. See the
Public Notice for details on how to submit comments.
American Petroleum Institute held a meeting March 5th among its membership and
invited trustee representatives, including NOAA, to inform one another on NRDA
interests. The intent is to determine how to further foster NRDA dialogue,
partnerships, and actions. For more information, please contact
Eli Reinharz.
Public meetings were held Jan 22 and
29, 2008 on the Cosco Busan restoration process and to seek information about
spill related injuries.
Read the Mulberry, Florida Draft
Estuarine Restoration Implementation Plan for the December 7, 1997 Alafia River
Spill, published August 17, 2007.
Read the Lower Duwamish River Restoration Plan Notice of
Intent.
Read the April 30, 2007 Record of Decision
for the Louisiana Regional Restoration Planning Program.
Read about DARRP's 15 year history of
protecting and restoring our nation's coastal resources.
Read and listen to
OR&R’s efforts in dealing with abandoned vessels following Hurricane
Katrina.
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