| OYSTER BEDS REOPEN FOR
HARVESTING IN DELAWARE BAY
(06/32) TRENTON -- Department of Environmental
Protection Commissioner Lisa P. Jackson today announced the reopening
of more than 70,400 acres of oyster beds in the Delaware Bay, effective
May 2.
Commissioner Jackson closed a 110-square-mile area to protect the
public from consuming shellfish possibly contaminated by oil spilled
into the upper Delaware Bay on April 25.
Samples of oysters collected from the most heavily affected waters
on the New Jersey side showed no evidence of petroleum on or in
the shellfish. Commissioner Jackson signed an order revoking the
closure of the oyster beds after the DEP determined the waters were
safe for shellfish harvesting.
The revocation of the shellfish-bed closure 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.
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