Delaware Governor John Carney joined Delaware Department of Natural Resources & Environmental Control (DNREC) staff, City of Dover workers, and volunteers from local businesses and organizations for an Earth Day cleanup and removal of invasive plants and dead vegetation at Mirror Lake Wetland. The site is well-known for a precedent-setting environmental cleanup and habitat restoration more than 10 years ago.
In 2013, DNREC’s Watershed Approach to Toxics Assessment and Restoration (WATAR) team used an innovative activated carbon product, SediMite™, to bind carcinogenic polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and remove them from the ecosystem. Between 2013 and 2018 the project at Mirror Lake achieved approximately 80% reduction in PCB concentrations in sediment porewater, as well as an approximate 70% reduction in PCB concentrations in Mirror Lake’s fish.
Following the success of this project, DNREC scientists are planning for a comprehensive 10-year post-remediation study of Mirror Lake carbon project that will include sediment, porewater, surface water, and fish tissue sample analysis. Results from the study will be released concurrently with DNREC fish tissue monitoring of the entire St. Jones River system in the fall of 2024.
See more information here.
