Compensatory Restoration of Mangrove Habitat Following the Tampa Bay Oil Spill

Abstract

ABSTRACT In 1993, an incident involving three vessels near the entrance to Tampa Bay, near St. Petersburg, Florida, resulted in a discharge approximately 300,000 gallons of No. 6. fuel oil into the waters off Egmont Key. The oil contacted the shores from Egmont Key to locations approximately 14 miles to the north. Oil also entered Boca Ciega Bay through John's Pass and impacted four small islands that supported mature overwash mangrove forest. A cooperative damage assessment process was developed between the Responsible Parties (RPs) and the trustees for the natural resources: the state of Florida, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). Through the cooperative process, several alternatives for primary and compensatory restoration were developed. In considering alternatives to compensate for impacts to epibenthic communities, fish and bird habitats, wetlands, and mangrove communities, the trustees and the RPs considered purchase of shoreline habitat and restoration of mangrove forest at several sites. The RP developed a proposal to purchase and deed into public ownership in perpetuity, a 10.67-acre parcel of land on the west bank of Cross Bayou in Boca Ciega Bay that had been used as a disposal site for dredge spoil in the past. This site consisted of approximately 5.0 acres of uplands, 4.4 acres of mangrove forest, and 1.4 acres of nonmangrove intertidal and subtidal habitat. The objective of the project was to establish a typical Tampa Bay mangrove forest and a roadside buffer free of exotic plant species. The secondary goals were to establish a typical Tampa Bay salt marsh dominated by smooth cordgrass (Spartina spp.) as a successional precursor to mangrove recruitment by seeds and seedlings. Tidal exchange through the site was reestablished to improve water quality and increase export of mangrove detritus and import of high-quality tidal waters. The project was designed and constructed by the RPs with the approval and supervision of the trustees. The project was completed and title transferred to Pinellas County, Florida in summer 1999. A monitoring program was developed and performance criteria established by trustee representatives and the RPs. The monitoring program currently is being conducted and has met performance criteria to date. This project demonstrates the positive result of trustees and the RPs working together to provide compensation to the environment.