Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge NRDAR Restoration

The Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge (Crab Orchard NWR) located in southern Illinois is a refuge for humans and wildlife alike, and has a unique history of industry, employment, and restoration. In 1936, the Resettlement Administration of the U.S. Department of Agriculture purchased land along Crab Orchard Creek to establish the Crab Orchard Lake reservoir as part of a Great Depression era reemployment program. During World War II, the War Department established the Illinois Ordnance Plant on the site to manufacture ammunition and bombs. In 1947, following the war, the land was transferred into the National Wildlife Refuge System. The enabling legislation for the Crab Orchard NWR required the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) to reuse some of the Army facilities for industry and use other areas of the refuge for agriculture, recreation, and wildlife conservation. Today, the Crab Orchard NWR has among the highest outdoor recreation and wildlife dependent human uses in the National Wildlife Refuge System, as well as an active agricultural program that includes row crop production, hay production, and cattle grazing.

The industrial uses of the site by the Army and subsequent tenants released hazardous contaminants into the environment. In 1987, because of extensive environmental contamination, the industrial complex was designated as a Superfund site and placed on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) National Priorities List. The FWS was designated as the lead agency for remediation, and the agency coordinated remediation efforts with the EPA, the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). The USACE was designated as the lead agency for areas identified as Formerly Used Defense Sites, that is, the areas that were used during World War II. Remediation and restoration efforts have been underway for more than two decades, and several sites have been investigated and cleaned up by potentially responsible parties. To date, approximately $150 million has been spent on remediation and restoration activities, including the excavation and (or) treatment of more than 300,000 cubic yards of soil and sediment containing polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), heavy metals, explosives, pesticides, and solvents; and the treatment of groundwater contaminated with solvents. It is anticipated that groundwater treatment will need to continue for decades to achieve the required groundwater standards (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2014). As a result of cleanup efforts, more than 140 acres have been reforested and PCB concentrations in fish in Crab Orchard Lake have declined significantly. These remediation and restoration efforts have improved fish and wildlife habitats, water quality in Crab Orchard Lake, and recreational opportunities such as fishing, boating, bird watching, camping, and swimming.

This report highlights two restoration projects on the Crab Orchard NWR: the remediation and restoration of an industrial wastewater treatment facility, and the restoration of 62 acres of the refuge to native prairie. The U.S. Geological Survey collected data on restoration activities and expenditures to estimate the economic activity supported by these restoration projects.

Background information on the Crab Orchard Natural Resource Damage Assessment and Restoration (NRDAR) settlement was obtained from Leanne Moore, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Environmental Remediation and Restoration Program, written commun., 2015; and from Crab Orchard NRDAR case documents at http://www.cerc.usgs.gov/orda_docs/CaseDetails?ID=1004.