Alabama Trustees approve more funds for the Bayfront Park Restoration and Improvement
The Alabama Trustee Implementation Group has approved using earned interest for the Bayfront Park Restoration and Improvement – Phases IIa and IIb Project (Bayfront Park project). The Bayfront Park project will provide enhanced recreational opportunities and benefit sea birds. This project includes shoreline stabilization, Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant parking, a pavilion, restroom facilities, and other park improvements. The additional funding was necessary. In the three years since the original budget estimate was created for the project, construction costs have increased dramatically and in an unprecedented manner. Additionally, environmental compliance work over and above what was initially anticipated was required. This delayed implementation and further increased project costs. The Bayfront Park project was approved in the Alabama Trustee Implementation Group Restoration Plan III and Environmental Assessment: Provide and Enhance Recreational Opportunities; and Birds (RPIII/EA), which was publicly released on December 20, 2019. This project includes shoreline stabilization, Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant parking, a pavilion, restroom facilities, and other park improvements. The original project budget was $4,683,304. Work began on the project in early 2022, and to date, the shoreline stabilization work has been completed. The project engineer’s estimate of the increased costs is $3,884,081. The new budget for the Bayfront Park project is $8,567,385, of which $991,723 will be funded from earned interest. With this additional funding, each of the original project elements will be completed. The Alabama Trustee Implementation Group hopes to complete the construction of this project in 2023. The funds are from the settlement from the April 20, 2010, Deepwater Horizon disaster. After the mobile drilling unit exploded, caught fire, and eventually sank in the Gulf of Mexico. This released 3.19 million barrels of oil and natural gas from the BP Exploration and Production, Inc. (BP) Macondo well, causing extensive natural resource injuries. Initial efforts to cap the well following the explosion were unsuccessful. For 87 days after the explosion, the well continuously and uncontrollably discharged oil and natural gas into the northern Gulf of Mexico. Oil spread from the deep ocean to the surface and nearshore environment from Texas to Florida, impacting the Alabama Gulf Coast. Natural resources impacted included: deep-sea coral, fish and shellfish, productive wetland habitats, sandy beaches, birds, sea turtles, and other protected marine life. The DWH oil spill prevented people from fishing, going to the beach, and enjoying typical recreational activities along the Gulf of Mexico. The DWH oil spill was subject to the provisions of the Oil Pollution Act (OPA) of 1990, which addresses preventing, responding to, and paying for oil pollution incidents in navigable waters, adjoining shorelines, and the exclusive economic zone of the United States. Under the authority of OPA, a council of federal and state “Trustees” was established on behalf of the public to assess natural resource injuries resulting from the incident and to work to make the environment and public whole for those injuries. As required under OPA, the Trustees conducted a natural resource damage assessment (NRDA) and prepared the Final Programmatic Damage Assessment and Restoration Plan/Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (Final PDARP/PEIS). The Alabama Trustee Implementation Group includes two state trustee agencies and four federal trustee agencies: the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (ADCNR); the Geological Survey of Alabama; the United States Department of Commerce, represented by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA); the United States Department of the Interior (USDOI), represented by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), Bureau of Land Management, and National Park Service; the United States Department of Agriculture(USDA); and the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) (collectively the AL TIG). To connect with the author of this story, or to comment, email brandonmreporter@gmail.com.
