How is the information from the remedial investigation used to assess natural resource injury and determine the scope of the restoration?
Top The scope of the restoration is based on the information that is gathered during the assessment stage. Natural Resource injuries are assessed for both ground water and ecological resources as follows: a) groundwater Injury to groundwater resources is solely the responsibility of the State. The Department uses the ground water injury calculation developed and applied by the Office of Natural Resource Restoration. This formula incorporates plume size, duration of injury, groundwater recharge rates and water rates in order to derive a monetary value (damages) for injuries to ground water resources of the State. The resulting surrogate value is then used to determine the appropriate scale of the restoration project. b)ecological resources For natural resource injuries other than to groundwater, such as wetlands, wildlife, surface water and human use injuries (as in the closure of a waterway to fishing or beach access), the process involves collecting, compiling and analyzing informatio
