Foundation approves $21 million in oil spill restoration projects
By Mike Cason | mcason@al.com AL.com
series /series Aka Story Package gallery-preview /gallery-preview Aka Secondary Package The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation has approved more than $21 million for five projects in Alabama to restore natural resources affected by the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the governor's office announced.
The money comes from plea agreements reached in federal court in 2013 to resolve certain criminal charges against BP and Transocean.
Today's announcement marks the third round of funds awarded from the NFWF's Gulf Environmental Benefit Fund.
The NFWF, a nonprofit organization created by Congress, set up the Gulf Fund to distribute the oil spill settlement money to Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.
Alabama will receive a total of $356 million from the Gulf Fund for conservation projects over a five-year period.
The funding is separate from the approximately $2.3 billion Alabama is expected to receive from civil settlements with BP over environmental and economic damages caused by the oil spill.
The Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and federal agencies worked together to develop the projects announced today:
-- About $2.1 million to monitor fisheries and ecosystems in Alabama's marine waters, the second year of the monitoring effort. The data collected will be used to improve management of ecosytems and assess the recovery of reef fish stocks, among other things.
-- About $1.7 million to buy three parcels consisting of 647 acres of priority coastal habitat in Grand Bay in southwestern Mobile County. Grand Bay is one of the most pristine and diverse areas on the Alabama Gulf coast and the parcels will link protected and managed areas.
-- About $300,000 for the first phase of an initiative to conserve and and protect coastal habitat through land acquisition in Mobile Bay. The money will be used for due diligence activities on future acquisition and management of several key, intact tidal marsh habitats within the jurisdiction of the City of Mobile.
-- About $4.2 million to help the Mobile County Commission buy and conserve a 233-acre parcel on Mobile Bay near the mouth of Fowl River. The parcel contains about 90 acres of brackish marsh habitat and transitional upland habitat with a high diversity of plants, birds and aquatic species.
-- About $12 million for artificial reef and habitat enhancement to improve habitats for reef fish and other species in coastal Alabama. The project includes research efforts to monitor the habitat enhancements.
"Coupled with those projects funded in earlier rounds, this third phase of funding through the Gulf Environmental Benefit Fund moves us one step closer to a more resilient coastal Alabama," Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Commissioner Gunter Guy said in a statement.