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November 29, 2005

Weather postpones start of oyster restoration program

PROVIDENCE - An effort to help restore the state's oyster population by releasing more than one million oysters into Rhode Island waters was postponed today because of weather conditions.

The state Department of Environmental Management and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration now plan to begin the release Thursday, according to Gail Mastrati, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Environmental Management.

The oysters are being released as part of the North Cape shellfish restoration program, which addresses damage caused when the tank barge North Cape ran aground off Moonstone Beach in South Kingstown in 1996, spilling 828,000 gallons of heating oil into Block Island Sound and Rhode Island's coastal ponds.

Posted by Jack Perry  at 10:23 AM | Permalink