2023 NOAA Restoration Settlements

Nicole R. LeBoeuf
Assistant Administrator
Ocean Services and Coastal Zone Management,
National Ocean Service

Video Transcript

In 2023, NOAA and partners helped recover over
$92 million from polluters to restore seven waterways in six states following oil
spill and industrial pollution incidents. When contamination
occurs, the impacts to plants, wildlife and people who live or recreate in
the affected areas can be devastating. NOAA worked to ensure that communities
disproportionately impacted by pollution will benefit from restoration projects
funded by the settlements.

In Gloucester Harbor, Massachusetts, efforts will seek to recover
fish and wildlife harmed from decades of pollutants
released from a plant that manufactured cooking and heating gas from coal and oil
along this historic working waterfront.

In the Gulf of Mexico,restoration work will help to offset
contamination impacts after a pipeline release of oil
deep under water in 2017.

In Sitka, Alaska, projects will focus on Pacific
herring restoration and shellfish monitoring to enhance seafood safety
for local and Indigenous communities impacted by an oil spill
when a tugboat sank in 2017. Restoration projects will also benefit
working communities and recreational areas

in New Jersey, Washington, Delaware
and additional sites in Alaska. As a steward of our ocean and coasts,we are proud to continue
sharing these success stories with you as we work to ensure
that those responsible for the pollution provide for restoration
where impacts occur.

Learn more about NOAA’s role in protecting and restoring the nation’s coastal and marine resources
by visiting the link in this post.