Gas Dock Rebuilds Marsh

Dominion restores Chesapeake marsh as part of pier upgrade

One of the most pristine freshwater marshes on the Western Shore has weathered years of storms thanks to a beach that shields it from the Chesapeake Bay. The marsh, which sits at the site of a natural gas plant in Lusby, Md., is home to more than 40 rare, threatened or endangered plant species.

Me with a Toadfish, LNG dock behind

 By way of reference, the natural gas plant is the onshore site that receives the LNG that is offloaded at the Gas Docks, which you can see in some of my pictures.  It's located about 5 miles south of the harbor.

But in 2006, a brutal nor'easter slammed into the bay, cutting a groove through the barrier beach and contaminating the 190-acre marsh with saltwater, killing off freshwater fish. For months, a debate raged among the members of the Cove Point Natural Heritage Trust, an environmental group that includes representatives from Dominion Cove Point LNG, the Maryland Conservation Council, the Sierra Club and the community.  Should they restore the marsh or let nature take its course? Restoration would not only help save the rare plants, but could also stop flooding in a nearby neighborhood that had occurred for years during large storms.

Ewing Miller, chairman of the natural heritage trust's seven-member board and a Sierra Club member, said he was inclined to do nothing.  "I just felt . . . we couldn't risk depleting all of our funds, more or less, in an effort to save the freshwater marsh," he said. "If we weren't there, nature would have done this anyway."

Blue Flag Iris

 Indeed, marshes come and go.  Years ago, in the 30s, an unnamed hurricane struck the Bay, and created a series of sandbars just south of us which closed off and became a cluster of small shallow ponds and marshes.  Today, these are known as Flag Ponds, after the native Blue Flag Iris which grow there now.  The Bay gives, and the Bay takes back...

But the timing of the storm coincided with a $50 million plan at Dominion Cove Point LNG to upgrade its pier. The company offered to restore the marsh as part of the project. That eventually ended the debate, and the members agreed to restore the marsh. (Dominion declined to release the cost of the restoration.) "We said if we want to do something, we have an opportunity here at the company's expense," said Michael D. Frederick, a natural heritage trust member and director of operations at Dominion Cove Point.

The Dominion facility is about 60 miles outside Washington on about 1,000 acres, but only 134 acres are developed. Much of the rest, including the marsh, is protected under a conservation easement.

I imagine the cost of this was a pretty small portion of the cost of the upgrade project.  If it keeps the neighbors happy, Dominion is thrilled.  I'm still pissed at the Dominion for buying the LNG plant, which had stood vacant for years, tended only by a skeleton maintenance crew.  Once they bought it, and started bringing in huge ships filled with LNG, the small fishing boats (like mine) that used to be able to wander among its pilings and fish were excluded by a large security zone, stringently enforced by the Coast Guard.  If they want the neighbors to be really happy, they should let us fish there again.

In late February, volunteers will help put the finishing touches on the beach, building sand dunes and planting vegetation. How the marsh holds up will be tested the next time a storm hits. "Dominion's solution is one we're looking forward to seeing the results of," Gallagher said.

 Maybe it will, maybe it won't.  We'll find out the next time a big storm its it.