Fossil Shell Dredging
PORTSMOUTH, Va. – Cranes at the Craney Island Dredged Material Management Area, or CIDMMA, here are removing fossil shell from a barge. This will be a temporary home for thousands of cubic yards of fossil shell that has been dredged from Tribell Shoal in the James River. On July 8, the site began storing the shell, which will be used for the construction of six oyster reefs for the Craney Island Eastward Expansion project. Construction of the $3.6 million environmental restoration project is set to begin in August of this year. Reefs will be built in Hoffler Creek, Baines Creek, Blows Creek, the Lafayette River and two in Gilligan’s Creek.

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Photo by: Pamela K Spaugy |  VIRIN: 130709-A-ON889-003.JPG