Projects and Research

Decades of industrial activity and improper waste disposal contaminated the Ottawa River, its watershed, and northern Maumee Bay, severely harming aquatic life and prompting fish consumption advisories. Federal and state trustees are conducting a Natural Resource Damage Assessment to evaluate the injuries and guide restoration efforts.

On or before March 17, 2014, a ruptured pipeline released approximately 500 barrels of crude oil into a stream and wetland at and near the Oak Glen Nature Preserve in Ohio, harming aquatic and terrestrial habitats and wildlife. Cleanup operations caused additional habitat damage, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Ohio Environmental Protection Agency serve as the site’s Trustees.

The Dover Chemical Site in east-central Ohio has suffered extensive soil, groundwater, and Sugar Creek contamination from decades of chemical production, spills, and improper disposal. The Trustees conducted a natural resource damage assessment and negotiated a settlement requiring Dover Chemical Corporation to fund ecological restoration projects and future groundwater restoration.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service issued NiSource an Incidental Take Permit alongside a comprehensive Habitat Conservation Plan covering potential impacts to listed species from pipeline activities. Developed with multiple federal agencies, the plan establishes avoidance, minimization, implementation, and landscape-level mitigation measures to support species conservation.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is assessing natural resource injuries from hazardous-substance releases in Duck and Otter Creeks under CERCLA, including contamination of sediments, soils, and surface water. Following sediment remediation in Otter Creek, the Trustee is pursuing settlements and restoration funding, including support for the Delaware/Clark Island Complex Restoration Project.