FINAL RESTORATION PLAN / ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT FOR THE EXXONMOBIL FORMER FERTILIZER SITES, CHARLESTON AND PORT ROYAL, SOUTH CAROLINA

The proposed action consists of the creation of 17 acres of salt marshand and an additional 3.2 acres of oyster reef creation estimated to be equivalent to about 18 acres of saltmarsh based on relative productivity. Together, the two restoration components represent a total of approximately 35 equivalent acres of saltmarsh. The projects will compensate the public for injuries to benthic habitat at four former phosphate facilities in South Carolina now owned by ExxonMobil: Atlantic Phosphate Site, Stono Phosphate Site, Swift-Agrichem Fertilizer Site, and Port of Baldwin Site. Three are located on the Ashley River in Charleston Harbor; the fourth is located in Port Royal Sound, SC. All four sites border and drain into emergent saltmarsh.