This oil spill on 7 April 2000 offers a case example where marsh restoration was made as part of the response effort to successfully enhance environmental recovery at a marsh heavily contaminated from a pipeline break (126,000–139,000 gallons of Numbers 2 and 6 fuel oils, >46,000 gallons eventually recovered). Marsh operations guided by U.S. EPA included mechanical trenching, limited low-to-moderate pressure flushing, hand recovery using sorbent pads and working from placed boardwalks, and the aerial application of fertilizer (bio-stimulation). After proving that planting would be successful in pilot plots and in a heavily damaged portion of the marsh, almost all of ‘ground zero’ (W01A) was hand-planted between 21 June and 31 July 2000 with 24,048 plugs of Spartina alterniflora and 1,728 plugs of S. patens (saltmeadow cordgrass). Both species were locally grown, nursery stock from native seed. Plants were placed in a 3” (8 cm) diameter hole containing 10 grams of slow release fertilizer and back-filled with washed masonry sand. Field surveys indicate recovery of 70–80% after one year and near complete recovery two years after. In spite of no apparent credit being given for replanting by government-lead Damage Assessment studies (NOAA et al., 2002), results clearly indicate that proactive planting during the response results in an environmental benefit and reduces the time needed for marsh recovery after an incident.

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