Maryland Department Of The Environment Issues Emergency Closure To Shellfish Harvesting In St. Mary's County Waterway
BALTIMORE (AP/WJZ) — A report of a sewage overflow has prompted a Maryland agency to close a waterway in St. Mary's County to shellfish harvesting.
The Maryland Department of the Environment issued an emergency order on Saturday.
The order applies to a portion of the St. George Creek area of the St. Mary's River. It became effective immediately to prevent the harvesting of oysters and other shellfish in the immediate future.
The agency is coordinating with other state agencies to determine whether oysters were harvested from the area in recent days.
The agency says an aquaculture operation reported that it was working to track down for recall 600 oysters sold in recent days.
The St. Mary's County Metropolitan Commission reported the sewage overflow to the state at about 7 p.m. Friday.
It's not known when the overflow began, but the commission told the state it believes that the overflow likely occurred for no more than three days.
The order will remain in effect until Jan. 21. It doesn't apply to fishing and crabbing.
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