Duck and Otter Creeks NRDAR Final Restoration Plan and Environmental Assessment

The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA, 42 U.S.C. § 9601 et seq.) and its implementing regulations authorize federal and state agencies to act as trustees of natural resources on behalf of the public. When hazardous substances are released into the environment and harm the public’s natural resources, these trustees conduct assessments to determine the extent of injury, recover monetary and other damages from the responsible parties, and use these recovered damages to plan and implement restoration actions that will compensate the public for the loss of natural resources and the services they would have provided but for the hazardous substance releases. 42 U.S.C. § 9611(i).

The federal natural resource trustee for the Duck and Otter Creeks Site (“Creeks” or “Site”) is the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI or Department), acting through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (“Service” or the “Trustee”). The Trustee prepared this Final Restoration Plan and Environmental Assessment (Final RP/EA) to identify and evaluate restoration projects at or in the vicinity of the Creeks that are intended to restore, replace, rehabilitate and/or acquire the equivalent of natural resources and their services injured by releases of hazardous substances from the Site. There are five settling potentially responsible parties (PRPs) who are participating in the proposed settlement with the United States, including, Ohio Refining Company, LLC (formerly BP), Chevron U.S.A., Inc., Energy Transfer (R&M), LLC (formerly Sunoco), Pilkington North America, Inc., and Chemtrade Logistics, Inc., in Oregon, OH.

Through the CERCLA Natural Resource Damage Assessment and Restoration (NRDAR) process, the Trustee negotiated a proposed settlement with the settling PRPs to restore, replace, rehabilitate and/or acquire the equivalent of natural resources and their associated service losses injured at Duck and Otter Creeks. The Trustee determined that contamination was present in sufficient quantities to cause injury to surface water, sediment, and organisms living within, upon, or closely associated with those resources. The releases also adversely affected ecological services provided by injured resources (surface water, sediment, and related habitat).

Under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA; 42 U.S.C. § 4321 et seq.), federal agencies must identify and evaluate environmental impacts that may result from federal actions. This Final RP/EA describes the purpose and need for restoration, identifies, and evaluates four potential restoration alternatives, including a No Action Alternative (Alternative A), summarizes the affected environment, and describes the potential environmental consequences of proposed restoration activities negotiated with the settling PRPs.

The restoration projects focus on restoring the types of natural resources at and in the vicinity of Duck and Otter Creeks. Public review of the restoration alternatives is an integral and important part of the restoration planning process and is consistent with applicable state and federal laws and regulations. Thus, the Trustee solicited public comments on the Draft RP/EA. No public comments were received and the Trustee proceeded with drafting this Final RP/EA. For additional information on the terms of the proposed settlement, please see United States of America v. Ohio Refining Company, LLC (formerly BP), Chevron U.S.A., Inc., Energy Transfer (R&M), LLC (formerly Sunoco), Pilkington North America, Inc, and Chemtrade Logistics, Inc. The proposed Consent Decrees (CDs), one for each settling PRP, were made

available for public review and comment on the Department of Justice website concurrently with the Draft RP/EA.

The proposed restoration projects included open water, river island, and wetland habitat improvement, enhancement, and preservation within the Maumee River watershed to benefit natural resources. Four Alternatives are presented in this Final RP/EA and were evaluated using NRDAR and NEPA criteria.

Specifically, the four Alternatives include:

1. Alternative A: No Action/Natural Recovery

2. Alternative B: Delaware/Clark Island Complex Restoration Project

3. Alternative C: Connected Wetland and Fish Passage at Camp Sabroske

4. Alternative D: Corbutt Island Project

The Trustee determined that Alternative B best addresses natural resource injuries and service reductions resulting from the release of hazardous substances in Duck and Otter Creeks. Based on the Trustee’s evaluation of the environmental consequences of all four Alternatives, the NRDAR factors described in 43 C.F.R. § 11.82(d), the Trustee identified Alternative B as its Selected Alternative.