10-Acre Wetland Restoration

Sullivan’s Ledge Superfund Site

New Bedford, MA

Text Box: New England Environmental, Inc. (NEE) acted as the wetland consultant designing and constructing over 10 acres of wetland associated with the Sullivan’s Ledge Superfund site in New Bedford, Massachusetts. After NEE’s design phase, NEE implemented the plan, restoring this complex wetland site. This included constructing 1,600 linear feet of stream channel using bioengineering techniques to provide initial stabilization to the stream banks and slopes. NEE also completed the restoration of a pond, planted over 21,000 wetland plants and initiated the five year monitoring program and plan to control invasive species at the site. Key project goals were to re-establish the original biodiversity found at the site, restore the wetland system, monitor for the Mystic Valley amphipod (a Massachusetts species of special concern located at the site) and coordinate the planting of native plants with the construction schedule to minimize the influx of invasive plant species to the site.

View of the stream channel, through “Middle Marsh,” designed and constructed by NEE.

CASE STUDY

Ecological Restoration and Construction

The original wetland system had been impacted by PCBs. All vegetation and impacted soils were removed. NEE redesigned the wetland, stream and pond areas and restored these locations within the five year monitoring period established for this site.

The restoration consisted of seven different mitigation areas ranging from open meadow, forested wetland, open water and stream channels and extensive hummocks throughout the wetlands. The largest constructed wetland on the site (6.7 acres), incorporated two major stream channels, man-made hummocks, and a layered planting scheme of native wetland plants to recreate previous wetland conditions.