Settlement of 1997 Oil Spill May Help Rare Birds Today

ARCATA, California, September 13, 1007 (ENS) - Restoration of wetlands and protection of rare native birds along the California's north coast may be achieved through six restoration projects to be carried out with the proceeds of a proposed settlement for injuries caused by a 1997 oil spill from the M/V Kure in Humboldt Bay.

Federal and state agencies serving as natural resource trustees have proposed the plan on behalf of the public to compensate for the injuries caused by the spill.

About 4,000 birds died and 6,200 acres of shoreline habitat were exposed to oil in the November 5, 1997 incident at the Louisiana Pacific Export Dock in Samoa, California.

A mooring "dolphin" punctured a tank on the Kure, and 4,500 gallons of fuel oil discharged into the bay. Some of the oil flowed into the ocean and was carried nearly 18 miles north.

The Trustees are releasing the draft Damage Assessment and Restoration Plan/Environmental Assessment, DARP/EA, for public comment on Friday. Written comments may be submitted through October 29. A public meeting on the plan is set for Wednesday, September 19 at 7 pm in the Arcata Community Center Senior Dining Room, 321 Community Parkway, Arcata.

In Arcata, the restoration projects include a contribution to the McDaniel Slough Wetland Enhancement Project. Funding would be used to help remove the tide gate at McDaniel Slough, build some new levees and breach the bay-front levee as well as develop new hiking trails.

The Trustees also propose funding for five other projects to help rare native birds. Reading Rock, off the northern Humboldt coast, would be restored as a murre breeding ground. Reading Rock once was a breeding site for over 1,000 common murre pairs but now nearly all the murres are gone.

Two other projects would benefit the marbled murrelet which is listed as Threatened under the Endangered Species Act. One is the purchase of a conservation easement to protect old growth redwoods for nesting by murrelets in Del Norte County, the other is a project to control ravens, jays and crows that are murrelet predators.

Two other projects would help protect Western and Clarks grebe colonies around Northern California lakes and help protect brown pelican roosting sites in Humboldt County.

The California Department of Fish and Game, the California State Lands Commission, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are designated trustees under the federal Oil Pollution Act of 1990 and state law for natural resources injured by the Kure oil spill.

The Trustees prepared the draft DARP/EA, describing the injuries resulting from the spill and proposing restoration alternatives. The plan reflects consideration of input from representatives of Kure Shipping S.A. and Patt Manfield & Co., and work conducted in cooperation with the Responsible Party.

To obtain a copy of the plan, visit http://www.dfg.ca.gov/ospr/spill/nrda/nrda_kure.html. Written comments may be sent via email to Carolyn_Marn@fws.gov

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