Delaware Bay Oil Spill Update

The Coast Guard, Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) continue to lead the recovery and clean-up of oil spilled in the upper Delaware Bay. As a preventive measure, the NJDEP has closed 70,000 acres of New Jersey's oyster beds to prevent potential environmental contamination. The Captain of the Port of Philadelphia has also issued a safety broadcast to mariners informing them of the obstructions to navigation due to the deployment of protective booming. Under direction of the Captain of the Port, protective booming which will limit or prohibit access to waterways has been placed in Back Creek, Nantuxet Creek, Fortescue Creek and Dividing Creek on the New Jersey side of the Delaware Bay. On the Delaware side of the bay, water access to Bombay Hook Wildlife Refuge from Leipsic River south to Little River will be obstructed. Over-flights of the area conducted by a Coast Guard helicopter from Air Station Atlantic City and a Delaware State Police helicopter scanned the bay and shoreline today looking for shoreline impact and found a minimal amount of baseball sized oily concentrations and sheening primarily located on the Delaware side of the bay and in the vicinity of Port Mahon, DE. Shoreline assesment teams have also been deployed and have found no impact to shorelines. An undetermined amount of oily product was spilled. Miller Environmental, Clean Ventures Marine and Delaware River and Bay Cooperative have been contracted for the recovery and clean-up operations. The cause of the spill is under investigation.