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Final Restoration Plan/Environmental Assessment for the ExxonMobil Former Fertilizer Sites, Charleston and Port Royal, South Carolina
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2023
[PDF-4.70 MB]
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Description:The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR) and the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (SCDHEC) (collectively, the Trustees) have prepared this Final Restoration Plan/Environmental Assessment (Final RP/EA) to identify, evaluate, and propose alternatives to restore injured natural resources, including their supporting ecosystems and the services they provide, in order to compensate the public for the injury to natural resources resulting from releases of hazardous substances at and from nine former fertilizer sites in South Carolina (the Sites). This Final RP/EA was prepared jointly by the Trustees in accordance with Section 111(i) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) and its implementing regulations (43 C.F.R. § 11.93). This Final RP/EA describes the Trustees’ restoration planning processes for the Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) and the restoration alternative that the Trustees propose to compensate the public for the natural resource injuries associated with the Sites. Fertilizer production at several of the former fertilizer Sites resulted in the release of contaminants, including heavy metals, that were transported from those Sites, through surface and groundwater pathways, to approximately 100 acres of emergent salt marshes in and adjacent to the Sites and to the Ashley and Beaufort Rivers. These heavy metals do not degrade naturally and tend to persist in the environment. They have also been shown to cause a range of toxic responses in marine and estuarine organisms including mortality, reduced growth, and diminished reproductive capacity. The Trustees conducted an injury assessment in cooperation with the Responsible Party, ExxonMobil. The assessment documented injuries to marine benthic habitats that support a wide variety of species in the South Carolina coastal ecosystem. The impacted estuarine areas are home to many species that are important both culturally and economically, including shrimp, oysters, drum, and blue crab. In addition to an abundance of resident estuarine fish, there are also several anadromous species that use these habitats, including American shad, blueback herring, striped bass, and the endangered shortnose and Atlantic Sturgeon. On June 26, 2019, the U.S. Department of Justice entered a Consent Decree in United States District Court for the District of South Carolina announcing a settlement for claims for injuries to natural resources resulting from releases of hazardous substances at the Sites. This Final RP/EA is the next step in the restoration planning process. In this Final RP/EA, the Trustees outline potential restoration actions that could compensate the public for the injuries to natural resources resulting from the Sites and identify the Trustees’ preferred restoration alternative, which consists of salt marsh and oyster reef creation projects on Edisto Island and Port Royal Sound, respectively.
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Rights Information:CC0 Public Domain
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Compliance:Submitted
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