Natural Resource Damages Assessment and Restoration: Year(s)

in Review

October 23, 2014Waste Site Cleanup Advisory Committee

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Presentation Topics

• Trust Resources and Trusteeship

• Massachusetts NRD Trust Settlements and Restoration Status

• FY13 and FY14 Restoration Progress

• Building Capacity for Restoration

Trust Resources• Natural Resources

– Biological– Surface Water – Groundwater– Air– Geologic (Soils,

Sediments)

• Services– Support (fish spawning,

rearing)

− Regulating (sediment transport)

− Provision (water supply, fish, shellfish consumption)

− Cultural (fishing, waterfowl hunting)

• M.G.L. Chapter 21E− § 5A, 11A

• M.G.L. Chapter 21A• § 2A

• CERCLA– (42 U.S.C. §§ 9601, et

seq.), including but not limited to sections 104, 107, 111(i), and 122

• Oil Pollution Act of 1990– (33 U.S.C. §§ 2701, et

seq.), including but not limited to sections 1006 and 1012

• National Contingency Plan (40 CFR 300)• Defines Trustees

• Requires response agencies to notify Trustees

• NRD under CERCLA• Department of Interior

• 43 CFR 11

• NRD under OPA• Department of Commerce (NOAA)

• 15 CFR Part 990

Trustee Authorities

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Colrain Acid Spill $ 30,000

GE/Housatonic$ 15 Million

Charles George Landfill$ 1.2 Million

Hallmark/Mystic River: $ 26, 801

New Bedford Harbor $ 20. 2 Million

Textron/MMR $1.3 Million

Bouchard B-120$6,076,393

Nyanza$ 3.1 Million

PSC Palmer$ 157,000

Holyoke Coal Tar$500,000

Massachusetts NRD TrustSettlements: Restoration Planning and Implementation Status

Chelsea Creek: Posavina: $155,000 Global/Irving: $312,500Coal Tar/Island End: $300,000

Sutton Brook Disposal Area$ 1.65 MillionRubchinuk Landfill

$ 747,000

Jefferson Dev.$25,000

Fireworks/Tronox: $6.79 Million

Blackburn and Union Privileges: $1M

IndustriPlex: $4.3M

Framingham GM $157,425

Massachusetts Active Trustee Councils

Bouchard B-120 MA Representatives: Millie

Garcia-Serrano and Karen Pelto Legal Advisor: Chris Ayers

MMR/Textron MA Representative: Karen

Pelto Legal Advisor: Dawn Stolfi-

Stalenhoef Technical Advisors: Millie

Garcia-Serrano and Len Pinaud

GE/Housatonic MA Representatives: Karen

Pelto and Thomas Potter Legal Advisor: Jane Rothchild

New Bedford Harbor MA Representatives: Lisa

Alexander and Rose Knox Legal Advisor: Andy Cohen

Nyanza MA Representatives:

Rosemary Knox and Lisa Alexander

Legal Advisor: Gail McCarthy

Holyoke Coal Tar MA Representatives: Brian

Harrington and Thomas Potter Legal Advisor: Jane Rothchild

MassDEP Group Award for Restoration from US Dept of Interior

Restoration Achievements: Project Selection and Public Involvement

• Restoration Plans/Environmental Assessments

FY13– Nyanza: $3.6 million for 12 Tier 1 projects

to restore aquatic biota, riparian and floodplain habitat, and recreation and public access

– GE/Housatonic Round 3: $2 million for land acquisition to conserve habitats

– Bouchard B-120: $715,000 to restore federally and state threatened piping plovers

FY14

– Bouchard B-120: $4.3 million for 19 Tier 1 projects to restore shoreline and aquatic resources, coastal access and recreational boating, and recreational shellfishing and shellfish 8

Restoration Achievements: Project Selection and Public Involvement

• Public input to project design

FY13New Bedford Harbor: Buzzards Bay Coalition invited the public to

view and provide feedback on conceptual design plans for restoring 19 acres along the Acushnet River in Acushnet

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FY14Rubchinuk: North Shore CDC engaged residents of the Fort Point Neighborhood in Salem in surveys and community meetings to provide input to the design of a “pocket park” that will provide multi-generational space for recreation

Restoration Achievements: Project Implementation

FY13– GE/Housatonic Round 1: Acquisition of 25-acre oxbow and

floodplain along the Housatonic River – worked with TFS to remove of 29 tons of steel, 29 tons of solid waste, 88 cubic yards of concrete, and 5 tons of tires prior to Berkshire Natural Resources Council taking ownership

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Restoration Achievements: Project Implementation

FY14– GE/Housatonic Round 2: The Trustees of Reservations staff and

volunteers planted nearly 2,000 trees to restore 10 acres of floodplain forest along the Housatonic River

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Restoration Achievements: Project Monitoring and Oversight

FY13– New Bedford Harbor: The Massachusetts Division of Marine

Fisheries and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported an over 1,000 percent increase in migrating herring able to pass over three dams on the Acushnet River following installation of one structural and two “nature-like” fishways in 2002, 2007 and 2008.

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Restoration Achievements: Project Monitoring and Oversight

FY14– Holyoke Coal Tar: Structural fishway completed in Easthampton on

Manhan River – 11 miles of habitat now available to migratory and resident fish – viewing window integrated into design for monitoring and educational purposes

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Building Capacity for Restoration: Upcoming Trustee Councils

Developing model approaches and “best practices” for Trustee Councils

IndustriPlex $4.25 million for injuries to Aberjona River, floodplain and

wetlands

Sutton Brook Disposal Area $1.65 million for injuries to groundwater, streams and wetlands

Blackburn and Union Privileges $1 million for injuries to groundwater, streams and wetlands

Building Capacity for Restoration: TFS

• BWSC-NRD-2014-01: Lower Mystic River Watershed Restoration ($238,710)

• BWSC-NRD-2014-02: Housatonic River NRD Fund Round 3 Restoration Project Proposals for Land Acquisitions to Conserve Habitat ($2,000,000)

• BWSC-NRD-2014-03: Sudbury River Corridor Land Acquisitions ($700,000)

• BWSC-NRD-2014-04: Upper Sudbury River Stream and Wetland Restoration ($157,426)

• BWSC-NRD-2014-05: Habitat Restoration to Benefit Coldwater Fish in the Sudbury, Assabet, and Concord River Watershed ($300,000)

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For more information

Karen Pelto

MassDEP

NRD Program Coordinator

617-292-5785

Karen.Pelto@state.ma.us

http://www.mass.gov/eea/agencies/massdep/cleanup/nrd/

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