JANUARY 27, 2017--This week a Draft Supplemental Environmental Assessment for Salt Marsh, Fish Passage, and Eelgrass Restoration for the 2003 Bouchard Barge 120 oil spill was released for public comment.

Three projects are proposed:

• Round Hill salt marsh restoration in Dartmouth, MA;
  
• Removal of the Horseshoe Pond dam for fish passage restoration in Wareham, MA; and
  
• Installation of conservation boat moorings for eelgrass restoration in various embayments in Buzzards Bay.

On April 27, 2003, the tank barge Bouchard 120 hit a bedrock ledge in Buzzards Bay. The impact created a 12-foot rupture in the barge’s hull. An estimated 98,000 gallons of oil spilled into the coastal waters of Massachusetts and Rhode Island. In 2011, NOAA and it co-Trustees reached a partial settlement of more than $6 million with the Bouchard Transportation Company.

For further information, contact Joe.Inslee@noaa.gov.

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