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| Using dip nets and a seine net, workers inspected the ponds for salamanders. The five that were found were moved to another known salamander habitat on site. |
In August, cleanup began at two meadow marsh ponds.
The manufactured ponds, located in the eastern part of the U.S.
Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory, were used for sewage
treatment experiments in the 1970s. The
project involved cleaning and reconstructing the ponds to protect an endangered
tiger salamander population.
Tiger salamanders use the ponds
for breeding in late winter and early spring.
After they lay their eggs, the salamanders migrate to upland areas.
As a result, mid-summer and early fall mark an ideal time for cleanup.
When the tiger salamanders return in January, they will discover a
larger, newly vegetated, better-lined habitat that is free of potentially
harmful heavy metals.
As directed in the Operable Unit I Record of Decision, workers pumped out
nearly 55,000 gallons of water from the ponds, removed 240 cubic yards of
contaminated sediment and degraded pond liners, and then reconstructed the
wetlands.
The sediment will be loaded into rail cars and transported to a licensed
off-site disposal facility.
Following the sediment removal, the
berm separating the two cleaned ponds was removed to create one large pond. New
soil, a protective liner, and wetland plants will help establish the
reconstructed pond. Finally, plans
call for an on-site irrigation well to provide the fresh water to fill the
ponds.
Tiger salamanders are native to Long Island and have a limited habitat due, in part, to increasing land development. The Laboratory property is one of the area’s largest habitats for the salamanders.