September, 2012 – NOAA, along with other state and federal environmental agencies, are implementing 11 projects benefitting the wildlife, people, and landscape of the Sudbury River Watershed in Massachusetts. These projects will be funded by a $3.7 million settlement reached in 1998 to address impacts to natural resources harmed by mercury and other contaminants from the Nyanza Chemical Superfund site. The projects will:

• Restore migratory and coldwater fish habitat
• Protect land to conserve wildlife habitat
• Create public access to the river in Ashland and Sudbury
• Create a nature preserve in Framingham and Ashland
• Control invasive aquatic weeds to improve recreation and wildlife habitats and diversity

The Nyanza Natural Resource Damages Trustee Council worked with citizens, community and environmental groups, local and regional officials, and state and federal agencies to identify restoration project ideas. Learn more.

Restoration projects create jobs for construction workers, landscapers, heavy equipment operators, and technical experts such as engineers and wildlife biologists. Restoration projects also create demand for local businesses, such as plant nurseries, quarries, and others. A wetland restoration project in New Jersey partially supported by funds recovered by DARRP has supported roughly 100 direct jobs so far. Learn more about the economic benefits of restoration from a new NOAA tool which allows you to find out about habitat restoration across the nation, from Oregon to New Jersey.

July, 2012 - With their eyes on the ocean, a team of 17 NOAA scientists recently removed nearly 50 metric tons of marine debris—mostly abandoned fishing nets and plastics—from the turquoise waters of the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument. Part of an annual cleanup effort since 1996 to restore the area’s coral ecosystems, this latest sweep of marine debris also scanned for items which might have been carried there from the 2011 Japan tsunami. However, nothing could be linked directly to the tragedy.

NOAA’s Damage Assessment, Restoration, and Remediation Program is helping restore coral reefs here after the M/V Casitas grounded on Pearl and Hermes Atoll in the monument in July 2005. Part of the funding for the marine debris removal survey comes from the legal settlement for the Casitas ship grounding case. For more information please read the press release.

July, 2012 - This month NOAA and other members of the Portland Harbor Natural Resource Trustee Council released a draft Restoration Plan and Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for the Portland Harbor Superfund site. The plan’s release marked a major milestone in the Natural Resource Damage Assessment process for the Portland Harbor Superfund site. The plan outlines restoration options and explains how specific restoration projects will be chosen to compensate the public for losses caused by releases of hazardous substances or discharges of oil from the Portland Harbor Superfund site. Notably, the plan prioritizes restoration in the Superfund site study area. The plan includes a portfolio of ecological restoration concepts for 44 potential sites in the lower Willamette River ecosystem. Two public meetings are being held during summer 2012 to present and gather input on the plan. Public comment will be accepted through October 8, 2012.

July, 2012 - Restoration is now complete for natural resources injured by an oil spill in 2006 in the Cascade Mountains of Washington state. The accidental spill at a Puget Sound Energy facility released approximately 18,000 gallons of diesel fuel into the White River Watershed below the Crystal Mountain Ski Area. NOAA along with co-trustees identified and determined the extent of the injuries, recovered damages from those responsible, and carried out restoration activities to compensate the public for the injury.

The now completed restoration projects focused on riverine habitat and Chinook salmon. The Greenwater River floodplain restoration project restored river and floodplain processes to increase the range and distribution of salmon in the White River Watershed. It was a partnership effort with the South Puget Sound Salmon Enhancement Group and the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest.