Behind the constant chug of coal trains, Norfolk Southern’s terminal at Lambert’s Point fronts a large stretch of the Elizabeth River.
Pam Boatwright first visited about 20 years ago and remembers it was in rough shape.
“It was like an old sunken ship vessel; it had some remnant pilings sticking up from the failed bulkhead,” said Boatwright, deputy director of the Elizabeth River Project and manager of its River Star Businesses program. “You could see active erosion.”
The nonprofit worked with Norfolk Southern over the past several years to transform the hardened shoreline at Lambert’s Point into a wetland ecosystem. The company announced this month that it completed the final phase.
"We're protecting critical infrastructure, improving the health of the river, and creating lasting environmental and economic benefits for years to come,” Josh Raglin, Norfolk Southern’s chief sustainability officer, said in a statement.
The project added 1,500 feet of living shoreline, which “uses nature to combat erosion,” Boatwright said. That includes a mix of marsh grasses, oyster reefs and rock sill structures.
The most recent phase planted more than 300 trees and shrubs on the hillside behind the shoreline.
The strategies help buffer waves that cause erosion and provide habitat for fish and birds, Boatwright said. Plants also help trap pollution that runs off the land.
“The best part about it is you're keeping all those sediments from going into the river, which often have pollutants,” she said. “There’s really no downside.”
That includes the financial side. Living shorelines are often much cheaper to build than traditional infrastructure such as rip rap and bulkheads.
Plus, Norfolk Southern is set to earn almost fivefold on its investment. (The company could not provide WHRO with the project cost by deadline.)
That comes from the sale of nutrient credits, which are traded in a market system to compensate for pollution generated elsewhere. (This operates similarly to wetlands mitigation banks.)
Last year, Norfolk Southern said it had secured several contracts with Virginia-based entities to purchase credits from the Lambert’s Point restoration, and that the project recently generated the “largest deposit in Virginia’s history” to the marketplace.
The financial return “proves that caring for the environment can also drive business success,” the company said in a news release.
The living shoreline is expected to capture about 10,000 pounds of nitrogen, 2,000 pounds of phosphorus and 3.5 million pounds of sediment.
Boatwright said the monetary value makes restoration easier to pitch to companies along the industrial waterfront.
“People think that going green, doing sustainable things, can cost a lot of money, and it can,” she said. “But also, it can save you a lot of money.”
