NEWS FROM THE DELAWARE DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL
June 26, 2009
Vol. 39, No. 283
For more information contact:
Melanie Rapp, 302-739-9902, Delaware Dept. of Natural Resources and Environmental Control
Eric Buehl, 302-226-8105, Delaware Center for the Inland Bays
Kathy Reshetiloff, 410-573-4582, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Tom Brosnan, 301-713-2990, ext. 186, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Chip Guy, 302-854-5000, Sussex County Government
M.Q. Riding, 302-457-5528, Conectiv Energy
Marsh enhancement at James Farm Ecological Preserve is unveiled
A successful Natural Resource Damage Assessment and Restoration project
CEDAR NECK, Del. – The newly-enhanced Slough’s Gut Marsh, located on the east side of the James Farm Ecological Preserve near Ocean View, was unveiled today – the result of a project that transformed 24 acres of eroded and degraded marsh into a healthy and productive ecosystem. The marsh is located on land owned by Sussex County and managed by the Delaware Center for the Inland Bays.
“Slough’s Gut is an excellent example of what can be accomplished when we work cooperatively to ensure the health and sustainability of our coastal ecosystems,” said DNREC Secretary Collin O’Mara. “The many scientists, engineers and environmentalists who worked on this project are to be commended for their outstanding work to assess, design and restore the marsh for all Delawareans.”
“This project was a wonderful experience for our staff. It was an opportunity to renew old partnerships and a chance to create new ones, and that’s what the Center for the Inland Bays is all about. As a National Estuary Program, it involves working with diverse partnerships to help enhance and restore habitat in the Inland Bays. I’m very proud of what’s been done at the James Farm,” said Richard Eakle, Chair, Delaware Center for the Inland Bays.
The James Farm marsh enhancement project is the final step in the Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) process to restore and compensate for environmental impacts resulting from a fuel oil release in 2000 at the Indian River Power Plant which damaged the marsh and shoreline near the plant.
Natural Resource Trustees – Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) – were authorized to recover damages for injuries to natural resources resulting from the fuel oil release. DNREC’s Divisions of Air and Waste Management and Water Resources, with technical assistance from the NOAA and USFWS, led the efforts to evaluate the injuries and provide oversight of the release cleanup.
At the time of the fuel oil release, the power plant was owned by Delmarva Power and Light Company (DP&L). Conectiv Energy, an affiliate of DP&L, provided expertise and assistance to DP&L in satisfying the obligation to clean up the spill and provide appropriate compensation.
In 2007 the marsh and shoreline impacted by the release were restored, and the Natural Resource Trustees worked cooperatively with the Center for the Inland Bays, Sussex County, and Conectiv Energy to identify and implement a plan that would replace similar resources lost by the release. Slough’s Gut Marsh at the James Farm Ecological Preserve site was identified as a compensatory project that would replace the resources.
Slough’s Gut Marsh has a lengthy and colorful history. During the 1930s, under President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal, Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) workers dug uniform-width, straight-line ditches throughout the marsh. The project, designed to drain standing water from marsh surfaces and reduce mosquito populations, changed the hydrology of the marsh, which altered the native vegetation. Dewatering and vegetation loss impacted fish and wildlife populations, and over the years, the marsh lost the natural functions important to a healthy and productive ecosystem.
DNREC’s Division of Fish and Wildlife Mosquito Control Section started construction of the enhanced marsh in mid-January 2009 and completed the project in March. Innovative open marsh water management techniques were used to excavate soils so that disturbances to the marsh were minimized. The old mosquito control ditches were removed, and 26 mudflats and ponds and several tidal channels were dug to create a more natural flow of water into and out of the marsh.
“Dramatic steps were taken to restore this saltmarsh. Where straight-line ditches once crossed the saltmarsh, shallow tidal pools and sinuous channels now meander through the stands of saltmarsh cordgrass. Pools and tidal mudflats, typical of undisturbed coastal saltmarshes, now provide feeding areas for wading birds, like herons and egrets, and habitat for fish, crabs, and other invertebrates,” said U.S. Fish and Wildlife Supervisor Leopoldo Miranda-Castro.
“The restoration achieved here provided critical habitat for important recreational and commercial species including flounder, striped bass and blue crabs,” said John. H. Dunnigan, NOAA’s Assistant Administrator for the National Ocean Service. “We look forward to continuing to work cooperatively with our state and federal co-trustees, industry and the public to restore the public’s natural resources that have been injured by contamination.”
Since completed in March, Slough’s Gut Marsh has already shown signs of recovery, with spartina grass covering the marsh like a lush, green carpet. Marsh visitors climbed the observation platform to view the signs of recovery that, over time, will mature into a productive marsh ecosystem.
“This project illustrates how the private sector and government can work together to help mend and preserve the ecosystem that is so vital to our county,” said Sussex County Administrator David B. Baker. “This project exemplifies the type of preservation efforts Mary Lighthipe and her family surely envisioned when they generously donated this land to the county in 1992. I am sure Mrs. Lighthipe would have been proud of what the James Farm has evolved into – an oasis of pristine habitat and natural beauty for generations to enjoy.”
“This project is an outstanding example of DNREC, Sussex County, the Center for the Inland Bays and Conectiv Energy working together to benefit Delaware’s natural resources,” said Gary Morsches, president and CEO of Conectiv Energy. “I hope this becomes a model for future restorations of salt marshes across the state.”
The project also includes educational components, including signs and literature that describes the restoration efforts and how the project will benefit the environment. Information on the project is posted on the kiosk at James Farm parking lot and on the Center for the Inland Bays website, www.inlandbays.org.
