Montrose/Palos Verdes Shelf NPL Site

State TrusteeState of California
Federal TrusteeDepartment of Commerce
AO Bureau

Also Known As

None

Incident Type

Chemical

State

California

Case Status

Restoration

Location

Southern California Bight

Authority

Contaminants of Concern Include

Affected DOI Resources Include

Migratory Birds, Threatened and Endangered Species

Case Description

The Palos Verdes Shelf site is an area of contaminated sediments in the Southern California Bight offshore of Los Angeles, California. These sediments were contaminated by DDTs and PCBs in wastewater discharged through ocean outfalls, off the Palos Verdes Peninsula, operated by the County Sanitation Districts of Los Angeles County. The DDTs originated from industrial wastewater discharged through sewers from the Montrose Chemical Company’s former manufacturing plant in Torrance, California. The PCBs, derived from several sources in the greater Los Angeles area, were also discharged to the sewer systems and eventually released through these same ocean outfalls.

Much of the released DDTs and PCBs settled out on the ocean floor. An estimated 110 tons of DDTs and 11 tons of PCBs were deposited in a 17 square mile area of ocean floor on the Palos Verdes Shelf in the Southern California Bight. Affected species include bald eagle, peregrine falcons, brown pelicans, a variety of sea birds, marine mammals, and fish. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency placed the Montrose Chemical Company site in Torrance on the National Priorities List in 1989.

Volunteers work at Elephant Seal Cove on Santa Barbara Island in Channel Islands National Park, offshore of southern California, restoring native plants and creating high-quality breeding habitat for seabirds as part of the Montrose Settlements Restoration Program. , Credit: Annie Little, USFWS


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Factsheet

 Factsheet Bald Eagles 01/01/2008
 Factsheet Fishing and Fish Habitat 01/01/2009
 Factsheet Program Overview 01/01/2008
 Factsheet Restoring Seabirds 01/01/2008
 Factsheet Seabirds on SNI  

Agreement

 MOA/MOU Modified Trustees Agreement 11/15/1991
 MOA/MOU Trustees Agreement 05/30/1990

Restoration (Showing 13 of 31 items. Group continues on the next page.)

 Restoration Implementation Report 2004 Annual Report  
 Restoration Monitoring Report 2004 Bald Eagle Egg Study 07/08/2004
 Restoration Monitoring Report 2004 Bald Eagle Restoration Report 11/01/2004
 Restoration Monitoring Report 2004 Peregrin Falcon Survey  
 Restoration Monitoring Report 2005 Bald Eagle Survey 12/21/2005
 Restoration Implementation Report 2006 Annual Report  
 Restoration Monitoring Report 2006 Bald Eagle Restoration Report 04/01/2007
 Restoration Monitoring Report 2006 Bald Eagle Study 12/20/2006
 Restoration Monitoring Report 2006 Bald Eagles on Santa Catalina Island 01/01/2007
 Restoration Implementation Report 2007 Annual Report  
 Restoration Monitoring Report 2007 Bald Eagle Restoration on Channel Islands 04/01/2008
 Restoration Monitoring Report 2007 Bald Eagles on Santa Catalina Island 01/01/2008
 Restoration Monitoring Report 2007-2011 Fishing Outreach Mini-Grant Program 01/01/2013
 

No publications have been entered for this case.

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Case Contact

Carlsbad Fish and Wildlife Office

Carlsbad, CA | (760) 431-9440 | http://www.fws.gov/carlsbad/

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