Two public workshops are scheduled
during the public comment period, which ends June 24, 2005.
A multi-million-dollar plan to restore the natural resources damaged by the 1999 wreck of the cargo ship New Carissa has been released to the public for 30 days of review and comment. Seabirds, shorebirds and recreational opportunities were lost to the oil spill resulting from the shipwreck. According to federal law and court settlements, the tribes and agencies working as natural resource trustees for the spill will soon finalize this restoration plan and seek funding for it through the Coast Guard's National Pollution Fund Center.
"I am exceptionally pleased to see how this diverse group of agencies and tribes has come together to collaborate on the development of the New Carissa restoration plan. We are excited to have this draft plan available now for public comment and ultimately, one step closer to restoring the natural resources lost as a result of this oil spill", said Elaine Brong, Bureau of Land Management Oregon and Washington state director. The Bureau of Land Management is the lead trustee for the spill restoration.
The features of the draft plan include potential purchases from willing sellers of seabird and shorebird habitat on the Oregon coast so that it can be managed to benefit the species. Also, predator management, habitat restoration, and public education efforts are proposed. Restoration costs are expected to top $2.4 million, which does not include impossible-to-estimate costs of land acquisitions.
The trustees determined that the oil spill killed or injured 2,465 seabirds, including 262 marbled murrelets (a species which is federally and state-listed as threatened). In addition, about 672 shorebirds were oiled and four to eight western snowy plovers (another threatened species) likely perished. Also 29,000 public recreation trips were lost or diminished. The restoration plan details how those resources will be restored and assesses the environmental impacts of the plan.
Copies of a simplified summary of the restoration plan, the plan itself, and the appendixes to the plan are available for download from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Oregon Fish and Wildlife Office website. All documents other than the appendixes also may be obtained, or comments submitted, by contacting case manager Larry Mangan by telephone (541) 751-4231, by mail at Coos Bay District Bureau of Land Management, 1300 Airport Lane, North Bend, OR 97459 or by email at coos_bay@blm.gov
Two public workshops will be held to discuss the draft plan and take comments from the public. They are scheduled for 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. June 7 at the port Public Library, 35 N.W. Nye St., port, Oregon, and 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. June 8 at the North Bend Public Library, 1800 Sherman, Ave., North Bend, Oregon.
Comments must be received by close of business Friday, June 24, 2005.
In February 1999 the New Carissa ran aground on the Oregon Coast near Coos Bay. In the following weeks, the vessel broke apart and discharged more than 70,000 gallons of tar-like fuel oil into the ocean and the surrounding environment. After a failed first attempt, most of the wrecked ship was towed to sea and scuttled by the U.S. Navy. The stern remains mired in the sand.
The trustees include the U.S. Department of the Interior; U.S. Department of Agriculture; State of Oregon's departments of Environmental Quality and Fish and Wildlife; the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians of Oregon and the Confederated Tribes of the Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians of Oregon.
