Contact: Ann Berger FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
3/11/96
Mobil Mining and Minerals Co. will build 32 acres of wetlands to resolve their natural resource damage liability from the April 6, 1992, accidental release of 45 million gallons of acidic process water from a fertilizer plant in Pasadena, Texas, the Commerce Department's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced today.
The spill, which occurred when a "gypsum stack" containment wall failed following heavy rains, traveled through a small bayou and into the Houston Ship Channel. Environmental impacts from the spill included a large kill of fish and shellfish, the loss of small numbers of terrestrial animals, the loss of wetland and upland habitat functions, and adverse effects on water quality.
The project will create 15 acres of new freshwater wetlands and 17 acres of intertidal estuarine marsh on the Houston Ship Channel, and enhance adjacent upland areas at Mobil's Pasadena facility. The size of the project will ensure that the public is fully compensated for injuries to natural resources from the spill. The freshwater wetlands will allow for tertiary treatment of permitted effluent from the plant. The entire project will be protected into the future by a conservation easement.
"This settlement is an exciting example of what can be accomplished when the focus, from day one, is on restoration of natural resources as the key to resolving public claims," said Terry Garcia, NOAA's general counsel. "Mobil Mining embraced that focus immediately following this incident and, in doing so, has demonstrated tremendous leadership in this area. Both industry and the public should be pleased with and proud of this result."
The settlement is the product of an open dialogue between Mobil Mining and the state and federal natural resource trustee agencies - NOAA, the U.S. Department of Interior, the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and the Texas General Land Office - that began even as spill response efforts were underway.
The settlement will be available for 30 days of public review. Plans for this restoration project are detailed in a Consent Decree filed on Feb. 21, 1996, by the U.S. Department of Justice and the Texas Attorney General's Office on behalf of NOAA, DOI, and the three Texas agencies.