Santa Clara VTA project recognized for environmental benefits

The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) was awarded a $2.98 million grant from the California Wildlife Conservation Board for the Beneficial Reuse of Excavated Material in Tidal Marsh Restoration Project.

The project includes the transportation and depositing of excavated material primarily from VTA’s BART Silicon Valley Extension Phase II Project (BSVII Project) to the South San Francisco Bay former salt production ponds, according to a blog on the VTA website.

VTA's BART Silicon Valley Phase II Extension (Phase II Project) is a 6-mile, four-station extension of Bay Area Rapid Transit from the Berryessa/North San Jose Station through downtown San Jose to Santa Clara, California.

The project includes the transportation and depositing of excavated material primarily from the project to the South San Francisco Bay former salt production ponds. The excavated material will be placed in select ponds within the Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge to raise the subsided ponds bottoms to accelerate the timeline for ultimate tidal marsh restoration, according to the blog.

The grant award is for the design phase of the project to identify methods for transporting and placing the material into the ponds.