United States EPA 

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• Rochester Embayment AOC

Braddock Bay Wetland and Barrier Beach Restoration 

The full extent of Braddock Bay’s eroding shoreline 

Costing an estimated $9 million, this habitat restoration project is funded through the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI). It will be accomplished through a partnership of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers(USACE) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), with EPA's Great Lakes National Program Office (GLNPO) coordinating.

This project is restoring and protecting the approximate 340 acres of emergent and submergent marsh areas currently in the Braddock Bay area of the Rochester Embayment Area of Concern (AOC).

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Braddock Bay Barrier Beach

Barrier Beach restoration construction

Beginning in 2016, restoration started with the re-creation of a historic barrier beach which protects the Bay from the onslaught of Lake Ontario wind, waves, and winter damage or erosion.

In order to restore Braddock Bay’s historic barrier beach, USACE constructed:

• A 1,695-foot long continuous rubblemound breakwater spine;
• A 2.55-acre headland beach;
• Two 150-foot long headland rubblemound breakwaters; and
• Two 180-foot long rubblemound terminal groins.

This barrier beach will improve Braddock Bay by:

• Reducing the rate of erosion of the interior wetlands;
• Reducing the volume of sand and other sediments of various particle sizes, that are deposited within the bay (and consequently removed from the littoral system); and
• Return areas of Braddock Bay to its previously existing low-energy system, allowing for expansion of existing submerged and emergent wetland habitat.

Recreational communities such as boaters and fishers are also expected to benefit greatly from the barrier beach and the improvements to the wetland areas.  The once esteemed recreational area has suffered from blockages in the navigation channel and losses of wetland habitats due to the erosion of the former barrier beach that had served as protection from Lake Ontario’s occasional choppy waters.

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Channels and Potholes

This project also enhances the current diversity of the 180 acres of emergent wetland by increasing open water areas within its interior through the creation of channels and potholes. These channels and potholes , along with the additional 2 acres of wetland creation in 2017, will provide a pathway for fish to enter the marsh and provide for fringe sedge-grass meadows, ultimately increasing the diversity of wetland habitats present.

Through channeling and potholing, spawning and habitat areas for fish and wildlife are recreated.  They have made huge strides in improving the overall quality of these natural areas.  Approximately 8.89-acres of channels and potholes were dredged and excavated to recreate the historic diversity of the wetlands.  All material excavated to construct the channels and potholes was reused on site and graded to create a more diverse topography which will promote floral and faunal richness. 

Approximately 5-acres of the existing emergent marsh will be chemically and mechanically treated to reduce cattail and other invasive species in this area, and support restoration of sedge meadow marsh in these areas.

https://www.epa.gov/rochester-embayment-aoc/braddock-bay-wetland-and-barrier-beach-restoration

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Braddock Bay update - docks coming in

Rochester NY's Daniele Family's $1.5M investment/creation of "Westpoint Marina at Braddock Bay" includes a renovated clubhouse/store and 300 docks within the next five years.  The first 200 slips should be completed by the end of 2017 according to media reports.

Using invasive, hybridized Cattails for fertilizer and other uses

Any hybrid can become fairly dominant – or extremely dominant in a lot of wetlands – especially where there are excess nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus

Researchers who work in wetlands in Michigan are taking a new approach to invasive plants. Instead of removing plants like phragmites and switchgrass, they’re harvesting them. They say these plants are a threat to biodiversity, but they can benefit farmers and even power homes.

Scientists are experimenting with new uses for invasive cattails in Michigan, including turning them into recycled fertilizer.

Scientists are working in the middle of the Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge. The refuge is massive, with 10,000 acres of marshes and bogs, forest and farmland. Everywhere you look, there’s a hawk or a herring. Bushes rustle with rodents, and the air is filled with mosquitos and a thick humidity. To put the size in perspective, Manhattan is roughly 15,000 acres, but rather than city chaos, Shiawassee is filled with the sights and sounds of wilderness.

Brendan Carson is one of the lead researchers from the University of Loyola Chicago. Carson and Eric Dunton, wildlife biologist at the Shiawassee refuge, are working on a project centered around invasive cattails.

“The hybrid’s called Typha x glauca,” says Carson. “And the hybrid can become fairly dominant – or extremely dominant in a lot of wetlands – especially where there are excess nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus.”

The abundance of these cattails occupies space, which ultimately means less room for native biodiversity, and without plant variety, the wetland suffers. The system loses its ability to filter nutrients, and all wildlife – from fish to migratory birds – are affected.

Carson and his colleagues are physically collecting the cattails. Their goal is to deal with invasive species, and address pollution at the same time: a key part of what makes this research so innovative.

Collecting cattails

Rummaging through cattails that stretch well over our heads, the bright red roof of the harvester pushes forward, spitting out cattails as it moves. The machine looks a lot like one of the tiny snowplows that clears the sidewalks, but built on tank treads rather than wheels. It’s specially made for projects where low environmental impact is crucial and with its weight so evenly dispersed, it seems to glide over the marshland, consuming every cattail in its path.  

This method of eradication removes the invasive plants from the wetland, while also removing the unwanted nutrients they’ve absorbed.

“Anytime throughout the growing season when the cattail has gotten to the point where it’s a mature plant, it’s taking nutrients through its roots,” says Carson. “It’s taking them out of the soil and the sediment, and incorporating them into growing tissue. So as long as you can remove that tissue while it’s still green, you’re going to be removing quite a bit of nitrogen and phosphorus.”  Once these nutrients have been harvested, they’re then put to good use. 

Working with local farmers, the harvested cattails are shredded and applied directly to crop fields where the biomass breaks down, providing organic material, as well as recycled chemical fertilizer.  The repurposing of these fertilizers can help farmers to reduce their need for additional fertilizers in future years, resulting in lower operating costs, and less environmental impact.  The invasive plants may have other economic uses as well.  

Greg Zimmerman, a professor at Lake Superior State University, has started using invasive biomass to make fuel pellets. They can be used in pellet stoves, which are similar to wood burning stoves, as a clean alternative heat source.  At the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, Brian Langolf is using a mechanical digester, which breaks down the material at an accelerated rate. When the invasive biomass is paired with food, or other organics, it turns into a rich compost, and the methane released during the process can be converted to electricity.  Langlof says they’re currently producing “roughly the capacity to produce up to 10 percent of our university’s power consumption equivalent, or roughly 220 average American homes year-round [that] we can provide heat and power to.”  The economic opportunities on the horizon look promising, but the true potential is still unknown.

Although energy rates in the United States remain unfavorable to alternative sources, other countries have already begun to implement similar methods.

http://interlochenpublicradio.org/post/new-research-shows-invasive-plants-can-feed-farms-power-homeshttp://interlochenpublicradio.org/post/new-research-shows-invasive-plants-can-feed-farms-power-homes

What exactly is being restored at Braddock Bay - according to SUNY ESF CRIS post

SUMMARY COASTAL WETLANDS RESTORATION BRADDOCK BAY Fish & Wildlife Management Area, GREECE, NY - SUNY Professor John M. Farrell Ph.D. as submitted to CRIS [Current Research and Information System]

The Braddock Bay Fish and Wildlife Management Area (FWMA) is a 2,576-acre, highly productive marsh complex consisting of five embayment ponds with associated streams, wetlands and uplands. 








All five embayments are hydrologically connected to Lake Ontario and the Rochester Embayment Area of Concern (AOC). The project sites in this proposal (i.e., Buck Pond: Phase II, Buttonwood Creek, and Salmon Creek) are not directly in the Rochester Embayment. The project sites, however, include wildlife habitat directly adjacent to the Rochester Embayment AOC and represent remnant bays that are connected to urbanization and shoreline hardening (e.g., development of houses and roads, specifically the Lake Ontario parkway). 

Therefore, restoration methods proposed in this application will directly benefit the Rochester Embayment as the sites remain hydrologically connected to Lake Ontario and represent some of the only remaining coastal marsh wetlands within the region that still support wetland habitat and wildlife communities, many of which are state listed species of concern. 

At Braddock Bay FWMA, marsh vegetation occupies approximately 65% of the area, with narrow-leaved cattail (Typha angustifola) and hybrid cattail (Typha x glauca) being the dominant species (NYSDEC Braddock Bay FWMA Management Plan 2011). The complex is an important economic driver for Monroe County and the towns of Greece and Parma because the FWMA provides extensive ecosystem services and recreational opportunities for the public.T his proposal focuses on the restoration/enhancement of coastal wetland habitat at three locations inthe Braddock Bay FWMA watershed in Monroe County, New York.  All three sites maintain a hydrologic connection to the Rochester Embayment (sites are less than 0.3 miles from coastline).

This restoration program is an on-going collaborative effort between DEC, State University of NewYork-Brockport (SUNY-Brockport), Town of Greece, NYSDEC, U.~. Army Corps of Engineers,and private landowners.  The goal of the current partnership is to restore sedge meadow habitat and improve wetland interspersion in coastal marshes adjacent to Lake Ontario and in the major tributaries of Buttonwood and Salmon Creeks (drowned river mouths that are part of the Braddock Bay complex). 

The project sites were once diverse and productive coastal marshes, but have become predominantly dense stands of monotypic cattail. Presently they support minimal native sedge meadow and emergent wetland communities and provide marginal habitat for important sport fishes, marsh birds, and other wetland wildlife.

Coastal marshes along western Lake Ontario, such as the Braddock Bay FWMA, are dominated by invasive narrow leaf and hybrid cattail due to altered water regimes. The resultant dense cattail mats have limited value for wetland-dependent wildlife, including marsh birds, reptiles and mammals. In addition, these cattail mats provide poor spawning habitat for fish, including northern pike, the state endangered pugnose minnow, darters, bullheads, longnose gar, and bowfin. 

This project will restore sedge meadow habitat and create connection channels and potholes in dense cattail along tributaries and bays that connect to Lake Ontario and the Rochester Embayment.

The restoration methods to be used at each site will be specific to the existing conditions, but all strategies will enhance the diversity of wetland habitats, restore native plant communities, enhance access to/and restoration of spawning areas for native fish species, increase hydrological connectivity, and improve wetland interspersion. Methods will include restoration of sedge meadow habitat, removal of cattail by mechanical means to create connection channels, removal of cattail to create open potholes to maximize interspersion, and native plant and wildlife communities. 

The final delivery will include restoration of approximately 155 acres. This will include seven acres of potholes, 10,000 linear feet of meandering channels, and restoration of 40 acres of sedge meadow.

Potholes and linear channels will be excavated using specialized low ground pressure equipment. These methods have been successfully implemented elsewhere within the Lake Ontario basin to improve fish and wildlife habitat, including French Creek WMA, Lakeview Marshes WMA, and on private lands, with additional work scheduled at Buck Pond (Phase I): Braddock Bay FWMA and Lakeshore Marshes in the fall of 2013.

Goals / Objectives
This project will conserve coastal wetlands by restoring sedge meadow communities and improving hydrological connectivity in areas that are presently dense, monotypic stands of cattail. The cattail dominates the marshes and limits growth of native plants as well as use by wetland-dependent wildlife and the public. 

The restoration/enhancement of these sites will increase the quality of the coastal wetland habitat and benefit marshbirds such as American bittern, least bittern (NYthreatened), Virginia rail, sora rail, sedge wren (NY threatened), and black tern (NY endangered). Blandings turtle (NY threatened) may also benefit, as will mammals, amphibians, and invertebrates. Sedge meadow habitat and wildlife such as northern pike and black terns are indicators of a healthy functioning coastal wetland system. The response of these species will be used to help evaluate the efficacy of our restoration during monitoring.

Project Methods
The proposed project will involve restoration and enhancement of coastal wetland habitats in Lake Ontario. Ducks Unlimited has identified three locations in the Braddock Bay FWMA, connected to the Rochester Embayment Watershed as priority areas for coastal wetland restoration. 

The restoration methods to be employed at each site will depend on the existing conditions. Methods for the restoration andenhancement will build upon successful projects designed and delivered by DU, such as the projects recently completed in the coastal wetlands of the St. Lawrence Valley, NY, funded through NOAA.

Similarly, restoration methods will follow published restoration methodologies detailed in project completed at SUNY-Brockport for sedge meadow restoration (Czayka 2012). The restoration methods, identified for each site below, include: . 

• Creation of meandering channels though the cattail mat. Using a specialized aquatic excavator or low-ground-pressure excavator, channels will be restored through the dense cattail mats to enhance fish passage and hydrological connectivity. The channels will be cut to connect newly restored potholes, and also connects onsite patches of remnant sedge meadow habitat. The channels will allow fish access upstream to spawning locations and will ensure juvenile fry can return to the Lake Ontario. Similarly, the channels will be restored to ensure water depths are tied to Lake Ontario water levels, thus ensuring that newly restored channels do not create isolated pools that could trap fish.
• Excavation of small pools or potholes for spawning sites, connected by channels.
• Excavation of oxbows to connect new and pre-existing on-site sedge meadow habitat to the restored channels, thus allowing fish access to spawning habitats which is currently limited by a dense barriers of cattail.
• Restoration of sedge meadow habitat through the excavation of the top layer of cattail debris and roots to expose mudflats.
• Placement of a water control structure to control flooding. The structure will integrate a fish ladder to facilitate passage into the newly restored coastal marsh (i.e., Salmon Creek). The created marsh and water control structure will provide for management capabilities, thus ensuring the wetland maximizes hydrological connectivity, maintains sedge meadow characteristics, provides habitat for fish and wildlife, and maximizes recreational opportunities for users of the Braddock Bay FWMA. The management of the sedge meadow with a water control structure will allow for the independent management of the system to control invasive species by flooding, to protect spawning areas, and restore native plant communities.

http://portal.nifa.usda.gov/web/crisprojectpages/1008305-coastal-wetlands-restoration-braddock-bay-fwma-greece-ny.html

2012 Superstorm Sandy breached Fire Island barrier; breach created new inlet with positive environmental effects

Elected leaders call for the Fire Island breach at Old Inlet to remain open

by Michael White, Greater Patchogue News NY News - Oct. 1, 2016

The federal government will soon let it be known whether or not it intends to close the Fire Island breach at Old Inlet.

In the meantime, some elected officials in Brookhaven Town are voicing — or reiterating — their opinions with respect to the breach on the other side of Bellport Bay.

Keep it open, insists town Supervisor Ed Romaine and Councilman Michael Loguercio, who represents the Bellport area for the town.

The 1,500-wide breach was ripped open during superstorm Sandy in 2012, after which several public officials up and down the South Shore immediately called for its closure — fearing bay waters would rise and lead to repeated flooding of shoreline homes.

Proponents of keeping the breach open, including leading marine scientists on Long Island, contend the breach is not causing bay waters to rise.

Not only that, it’s making for a cleaner bay and healthier ecosystem, they contend.

Those are the major issues the National Park Service, which controls the property, is grappling with as it decides on whether or not to initiate a closure of the breach, which would be conducted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

A Draft Breach Management Plan/Environmental Impact Statement is expected to be released for public review and comment according to a Park Service spokeswoman, Elizabeth Rogers.

Brookhaven Town officials attended meetings on January 24, 2014 and July 27, 2015, to provide comment to the National Park Service on the scope of the environmental impact statement, or EIS, according to a Brookhaven Town spokesman, Kevin Molloy.

“At these meetings the town noted the improvements in water quality in Bellport Bay, the benefits to the shellfish resource, and the data from Charles Flagg, Ph.D. that indicated the breach had not worsened flooding in the town’s south shore communities,” Molloy said.

“My position is to let nature take its course as it has for the past four years,” said Romaine, a Center Moriches resident. “The breach has made such a positive impact on the fish and wildlife in and around the bay, and once you get out there it becomes very clear that this is the right thing to do.”

“I ask the federal government to leave it open,” he added, “while at the same time, monitor the breach to see if it expands in size.”

His statement followed a boat trip last week with Loguercio and others, including Bellport Village Mayor Ray Fell and state Assemblyman Dean Murray.

“There aren’t many places like this where you can see the bottom of the bay,” said Loguercio, of Ridge. “It’s obvious that the water is much cleaner as you get closer to the breach. Those who make their living on the bay or just people who enjoy fishing and other recreational activities, have made their opinions clear that they want to see it remain open.”

In a comment to greaterpatchogue.com, Murray harkened back to the fall of 2012, when there were repeated calls to close the breach over flooding fears.

“However, in the four years since we have seen enormous benefits as a result of the formation of the new inlet,” said Murray, of East Patchogue. “Clearer, cleaner water and tremendous benefit to marine life in general, so I think the best thing for us to do is to continue to monitor while allowing nature to take its course.”

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Top: This photo was taken following a nor’easter in March 2013 from the west cut of the Fire island Breach, one of the post-Sandy storms that created flooding tides. (Credit: Mike Busch/greaterfireisland.com)

Middle: (L-R) Supervisor Ed Romaine, Bellport Mayor Ray Fell, Brookhaven Town chief environmental analyst Anthony Graves, town Councilman Michael Loguercio and state Assemblyman Dean Murray. (Credit: Brookhaven Town courtesy)

1,675-foot long continuous rubblemound breakwater spine

Braddock Bay on L. Ontario NY ~ just so you know . . . . 

Braddock Bay, Greece (NY) is undergoing a restoration project that involves dredging portions of the bay and the construction of the barrier beach.

Ongoing barrier beach construction works at the bay are in full swing now and will be completed by the end of the construction season 2016.

Braddock Bay is located on the shore of Lake Ontario and is part of the Rochester Embayment Great Lakes Area of Concern (AoC).

The Braddock Bay Scheme includes construction of the beach barrier:

• 1,675-foot long continuous rubblemound breakwater spine, as a core for the beach, with two 180-foot long rubblemound terminal groins attached;

• 3 -acre headland beach;

• Two 150-foot long headland rubblemound breakwaters.

The project is being conducted through an interagency agreement between the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and USACE in close partnership with the Town of Greece and the Rochester Embayment Remedial Action Plan Oversight Committee.

FROM: Dredging Today:  https://www.dredgingtoday.com/2016/08/31/braddock-bay-barrier-beach-works-in-full-swing/

Revetment across Braddock Bay

https://www.dropbox.com/s/tx60nvbn6ba90ne/DJI_0045.MOV?dl=0

Yikes

Western N.Y. toxic sites could endanger Great Lakes

Study points to more than 800 hazardous places

By Dan Herbeck ASSOCIATED PRESS  APRIL 22, 2013

As many as 40 million people drink the water from the Great Lakes, including Lake Ontario, where a pair of friends examined what may have washed up on the shore. 

BUFFALO — Thirty-five years after underground toxics turned the Niagara Falls neighborhood of Love Canal into a ghost town, researchers are warning that Western New York is still home to nearly 800 hazardous waste sites that could someday lead to big trouble, not only for local residents, but for the Great Lakes region.

A recently completed study, believed to be the most comprehensive look ever at hazardous waste sites in Western New York, found potential chemical hazards lurking across Erie, Niagara and Cattaraugus counties:
■ Half of the world’s known radium is stored about a mile from the Lewiston-Porter schools.
■ The most deadly wastes from all over the Northeast are hauled along local roads to a dump site in Niagara County.
■ Lead from a former smelting plant is believed to be linked to a deadly outbreak of lupus on Buffalo’s East Side.
■ Radioactive waste from the West Valley nuclear storage facility in Cattaraugus County could someday endanger the Great Lakes.

The vast majority of these waste sites are in the Great Lakes watershed, the largest source of fresh water in the world.

Many are directly adjacent or close to Lake Erie, Lake Ontario, the Niagara and Buffalo rivers, or other waterways that feed the Great Lakes.
An estimated 26 million to 40 million people drink the water from the Great Lakes, which contain more than one-fifth of the world’s fresh surface water.

‘‘It’s important. It’s overwhelming,’’ said Joseph A. Gardella Jr., an environmentalist and University at Buffalo chemistry professor who coauthored the study that was completed by the Western New York Environmental Alliance, the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo, and the University at Buffalo’s Urban Design Project.

‘‘This information is a wake-up call,’’ said Brian P. Smith, program director for the Western New York Citizens Campaign for the Environment. ‘‘Policymakers need to look at it, digest it, and find out what wastes are in their districts. We need to work to comprehensively clean up the waste in a way that is protective of public health. Protecting the Great Lakes has to be one of our top priorities.’’

Some of the material is left over from industry or war projects.

And more dangerous material continues to be hauled here from elsewhere because this region has become a dumping ground for other communities’ poisons and wastes.

Among the most significant findings:
■ Niagara County has more than twice as many federal- and state-designated hazardous waste sites as comparably sized counties throughout the state.
■ The three counties contain 174 federal or state ‘‘Superfund’’ hazardous waste sites, 43 designated as ‘‘significant threats’’ to public health.
■ Erie County has almost eight times as many brownfield cleanup sites as the average county in the state, and Niagara County has more than twice as many as the average county.

‘‘Are we overburdened with waste? Yes, with all kinds of waste,’’ said Lynda H. Schneekloth, a professor at the university’s Urban Design Project. ‘‘We never knew how much of it was out there until we conducted this study.’’

The job of protecting people in Western New York from hazardous waste mainly falls on two watchdog agencies — the state Department of Environmental Conservation and the Environmental Protection Agency. The state agency has a much bigger presence than the EPA in Western New York and is more actively involved on a day-to-day basis.

Despite the presence of these hundreds of waste sites, the public safety situation is ‘‘light-years better’’ than it was in the late 1970s, said EPA spokesman Michael J. Basile. 

That’s because the two agencies constantly monitor the sites, he said.

https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/nation/2013/04/21/western-toxic-sites-could-endanger-great-lakes/xxiHhzS0RmvjRgwz3Iw64K/story.html