Martinez' Peyton Slough and its surrounding ecosystem are flourishing even sooner than expected as the salt marsh in the midst of an industrial complex returns to its natural conditions of decades ago.

Specialty chemical producer Rhodia Inc. hosted more than 25 representatives of local, state and federal environmental agencies and interested stakeholders yesterday who inspected progress at the 100-plus-acre Peyton Slough environmental restoration project first-hand. The group of officials and local environmentalists returned one year after brackish tidal waters were re-introduced into the marshland, ending decades of keeping brackish and fresh waters apart.

Many of the participants have toured the project at least annually in recent years and have observed the Peyton Slough restoration project from its planning stages through two years of construction, followed by detailed observations and meticulous collection of field data.

What they saw yesterday is an ecosystem teeming with marine life, fowl, other wildlife and indigenous plants as the marsh is slowly restored to the salt marsh conditions that historically characterized the area nearly 100 years ago. Earlier in the last century, installed infrastructure had created a freshwater marsh by preventing tidal flows of brackish water from reaching the marshland from the Carquinez Strait.

Now, nature has largely returned the marsh to its more natural brackish conditions, with the help of a relocated Peyton Slough and a bi-directional tide gate that allows controlled flows of brackish tidal water to mix with freshwater from upstream sources.

The new tide gate was first operated about a year ago when many of the same people participated in a ceremonial opening of the remote-controlled gate.

Dynamic conditions within the marsh aren't surprising, according to Mary Brown, Rhodia's senior project manager responsible for the Peyton Slough program. ?This project brought together the best environmental expertise from public and private sectors, so we were always quite confident about the outcome,? she said.

?But it's a very pleasant surprise to see how quickly the marine, plant and wildlife have developed after two years of construction and the re-introduction of more typical salt marsh conditions.?

She added that five more years of monitoring and data collection should provide further documentation of this week's early empirical evidence. ?We already have data that confirms what we see, and we're optimistic that five more years of observations will be consistent with these first years of monitoring,? she said.

The field data measures wetland re-vegetation, animal habitats, marine life, tidal flows, water quality and other environmental priorities identified in the overall Peyton Slough restoration plan.

Among yesterday's participants were representatives of the San Francisco Regional Water Quality Control Board, the Contra Costa Mosquito and Vector Control District (which operates the tide gate), and Mt. View Sanitary District. Other participating agencies included the City of Martinez, San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission, the California State Lands Commission, the California Department of Fish and Game, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and other local, regional and statewide agencies.

The Peyton Slough drains a marsh system and watershed surrounded by refineries, industrial terminals and a Rhodia manufacturing plant. Two years of construction at the site (2004-06) resulted in realigning the slough to the east, and capping old slough sediments containing copper and zinc to prevent them from impacting water quality and aquatic life in the Carquinez Strait that drains to San Francisco Bay.

As a result of the slough realignment, one of the Bay Area's longstanding toxic ?hot spots? from a bygone industrial era was eliminated.

Rhodia operates a sulfuric acid regeneration plant adjacent to the Peyton Slough. The current Rhodia operations are unrelated to the historic industrial activities conducted by other parties at the site, which contributed to the old slough's copper and zinc content.

Rhodia is an international chemical company resolutely committed to sustainable development. As a leader in its businesses, the Group aims to improve its customers' performance through the pursuit of operational excellence and its ability to innovate. Rhodia is the partner of major players in the automotive, refining, electronics, flavors and fragrances, health, personal and home care markets, consumer goods and industrial markets. The Group employs around 13,600 people worldwide and generated sales of €4.03 billion in 2009. Rhodia is listed on Euronext Paris.

Rhodia Inc.
David Klucsik, 609-860-3616
david.klucsik@us.rhodia.com