E-Drive Pigeon Creek Restoration Project (Kalamazoo River NRDAR)

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On July 25, 2010, Lakehead Line 6B (Line 6B), a 30-inch diameter pipeline owned and or operated by Enbridge, Inc., ruptured near Marshall, Michigan, and discharged crude oil into a wetland adjacent to Talmadge Creek, through Talmadge Creek, and into the Kalamazoo River, a Lake Michigan tributary. Oil flowed down the river and into its floodplain for approximately 38 miles, to Morrow Lake. As a consequence, aquatic and floodplain habitats, and species using those habitats, were oiled. The Natural Resource Trustees acting on behalf of the public have finalized a Damage Assessment and Restoration Plan Environmental Assessment. The E-Drive Pigeon Creek Restoration Project is among those projects selected by the Trustees to restore resources injured as a result of the discharge of oil into the Kalamazoo River. Pigeon Creek is a tributary of the Kalamazoo River. The E-Drive road crossing on Pigeon Creek is an undersized and perched culvert system located on E Drive N in Emmett Township, Calhoun County, Michigan. A perched culvert is one in which the downstream end is significantly higher than the normal stream elevation. The existing culvert system inhibits fish passage and may restrict the distribution of freshwater mussels that depend on fish as their intermediate hosts. The Trustees have approved replacement of the existing perched culvert with a box culvert that will allow passage of aquatic organisms. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service intents to award a cooperative agreement to Michigan Department of Natural Resources without competition under justification 505DM 2.14B.2 & 4. Competition for the award is not practical as this project is a component of the restoration plan approved by the natural resource Trustee Council for the Kalamazoo River NRDA. Moreover, the Calhoun Conservation District maintains partnership relationships with private landowners and local government agencies that will facilitate implementation of these restoration projects. The East Lansing Field Office of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) will be substantially involved in the Pigeon Creek E-Drive Restoration Project under this funding opportunity. In particular, the Service will be responsible for the following: on-site monitoring to document project implementation, monitoring to document ecological outcomes, and development and delivery of outreach materials to communicate to the public, stakeholders, and the Trustees the ecological outcome of restoration.

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