Corps of Engineers works with stakeholders to protect Humboldt Bay wildlife

By Mr. Joe Barison (USACE)January 20, 2010

SF District Permit Protects Humboldt Bay Wildlife
(Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

<B>Eureka, Calif. -</B> The Army is known for digging battle trenches. Here, the San Francisco District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is known for issuing a critical regulatory permit that allows Simpson Timber Company to clean up a wetland area by digging a trench to facilitate the removal of poisons collectively known as dioxin.

Picture a low-lying wet stretch of land slightly over 1,000-feet long in an old industrial neighborhood in Eureka of 17 acres, only blocks from Humboldt Bay. Railroad tracks run parallel to the wetland, which is subject to tidal exchange from the bay. The land's soil has been identified by the California Regional Water Quality Control Board to contain toxic contaminants that must be removed. But since the marsh's water interacts with Humboldt Bay, the Corps has regulatory jurisdiction.

Under the leadership of Dave Ammerman, a project manager with the Eureka Field Office of the San Francisco District's Regulatory Division, the Corps issued a jurisdictional determination to the timber company's engineering consultant.

Subsequently, the Corps issued an authorization under Nationwide Permit No. 38 - Cleanup of Hazardous and Toxic Waste. The permit authorizes Simpson Timber to remove all sediment and debris; to close the Del Norte Street culvert; to excavate nearly 3,000 cubic yards of contaminated soil and water; to backfill over 2,000 cubic yards of clean soil; to place liner material below the excavation limits; to lower the final grade of the swale within the western-most 200 feet; and to replant the swale with fresh-water and salt-water marsh vegetation.

"This [Del Norte Street] project is important because it will prevent the migration of contaminants into Humboldt Bay and also into adjacent Palco Marsh," said Ammerman. "If contaminated water reached the bay, it could cause biological or chemical harm to many fish species and marsh vegetation."

According to Ammerman, threatened species including coho, chinook and steelhead salmon would be at risk, as well as the endangered tidewater goby. Halibut and flounder, caught around Humboldt Bay for human consumption, could also be affected. As of November, all contaminated soil, water and vegetation removal has been collected and stored in secure containers for removal to a site outside Eureka. On Nov. 6, high Humboldt Bay waves rolled into Eureka's tidal inlet driving water into the eastern swale.

The contractor held back the upstream migration of tidal water and, with the impermeable layer of material in place, prevented toxic soil from mixing with the tidal water. The replanting of wetland vegetation is planned for spring 2010.

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