| DEP ORDERS CLOSURE OF OYSTER
BEDS IN DELAWARE BAY
(06/30) TRENTON -- New Jersey Department
of Environmental Protection Commissioner Lisa P. Jackson this afternoon
ordered the immediate closure of 110 square miles of Delaware Bay
oyster beds, as state and federal authorities worked to clean up
oil contamination that stretched from the Cohansey River to Egg
Island.
Commissioner Jackson closed the 70,400-acre area to safeguard the
public from consuming potentially tainted shellfish.
The prohibition on all shellfish harvesting applies specifically
to all of New Jersey's waters in the Delaware Bay that are northwest
of a line from the Egg Island Point bearing approximately 227 degrees
T through Miah Maull Shoal Light.
Commissioner Jackson's order will remain in effect until further
notice.
Earlier, the U.S. Coast Guard responded to a 6:45 a.m. report that
oil was spotted in the upper Delaware Bay. Late this afternoon,
DEP crews and Delaware state environmental officials were on the
water, working with the Coast Guard to clean up the six-mile narrow
band of oil near the center of the bay in the mail shipping channel,
east of Port Mahon in Kent County, Del.
Oil-skimming vessels were deployed to conduct recovery and cleanup
operations.
Following is a map of the affected area:
PDF Version of the Map [pdf 179 Kb;
information about Adobe
Acrobat PDFs]
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