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Mitigation of reef damage ongoing for displaced corals
The Bureau of Environmental Coastal Quality, the Division of Fish and Wildlife, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration are still at work to mitigate the damage to the reef caused by the cargo vessel Paul Russ’ grounding in September, according to BECQ administrator Frank Rabauliman yesterday.
Dislocated corals, as well as chip painting from Paul Russ attached to the corals in the grounding area were found during a survey conducted by BECQ’s marine monitoring team, along with DFW.
He said NOAA is working with the vessel’s representatives in possibly transporting the coral elsewhere, along with other mitigation work.
He said the responsible parties are doing the work of removing the paint chips and to reattach the dislodged coals.
In fact, he said, he believed work was being done in the area during the time of the interview.
The “next step,” according to Rabauliman, is “one more dive to make sure the work that has been done or is ongoing is pursuant to what our team instructed them to do.”
“We obviously would like to have smooth collaborative work to protect corals as opposed to adversarial. Hopefully, the work will be done sooner rather than later,” he said.
Who will pay for the work being done? That “has yet to be determined,” according to Rabauliman.
When asked, Rabauliman could not say whether the impact was extensive or minor as he did not have that information with him.
The cause of Paul Russ’ grounding has yet to be reported.
Lt. William White, public affairs officer of the U.S. Coast Guard Sector Guam, said last month that an investigation was ongoing.
Paul Russ was successfully towed out of the reef by tugboats belonging to its representatives last September, with no reported damage to hull or possible oil leaks.
Discovery of unexploded ordnance near the vessel forced the port to close for about a day.
