Oyster Bay, NY - June 5, 2014 - Shellfish harvesting in the normally certified (open) areas in the western section of Oyster Bay Harbor, in the town of Oyster Bay, will again be permitted effective on Thursday, June 5, 2014, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) announced today. Approximately 1285 acres are included in this reopening.
To protect public health, DEC had implemented a temporary closure of the certified areas in Cold Spring Harbor and Oyster Bay Harbor on May 23 following a malfunction at the wastewater treatment plant serving the Oyster Bay Sewer District. The bypass released approximately 125,000 gallons of partially treated sewage and sludge into Oyster Bay Harbor.
Beginning at sunrise on Thursday, June 5, commercial and recreational shellfish harvesting may resume in the following area:
Oyster Bay (town of): All the normally certified shellfish lands in Oyster Bay Harbor lying westerly of a line extending southerly from Brickyard Point (Centre Island) to the landward end of the rock jetty located approximately 100 feet east of the boat launching ramps in Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Park.
However, the temporary closure remains in effect for 800 acres in the eastern portion of Oyster Bay Harbor, lying east of the line described above and west of a line extending southerly from the stone house on Plum Point (Centre Island) to the northwesternmost point of land on Cove Point, on Cove Neck.
DEC will re-open the normally certified areas in eastern Oyster Bay Harbor as soon as possible based on the results of testing of additional shellfish samples that DEC plans to collect on Monday, June 9.
DEC had previously reopened 3,000 acres in the normally certified portions of Cold Spring Harbor on Saturday, May 31 based on its review of a dilution analysis and testing of water samples collected early last week which showed that conditions that might make shellfish potentially hazardous to consumers were not present in that area.
A recorded message advising harvesters of the status of temporary shellfish closures may be heard at (631) 444-0480. That message is updated during the course of the temporary closures. For a more detailed description of the closed area, call DEC's office of Marine Resources during regular business hours at (631) 444-0492. Additional information about temporary closures is available on DEC's website.