State Closes Shellfish Harvest After Rainstorms
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation early Wednesday ordered East End bays and harbors closed to all shellfish harvesting following heavy downpours during Tuesday's thunderstorms.
The order covers enclosed water bodies from Moriches Bay in the Town of Brookhaven east to Lake Montauk and will remain in place until the Conservation Department announces that unsafe conditions have dissipated.
The closed areas as listed by the department are:
1. Town of Brookhaven: All the area of Moriches Bay lying east of a line extending northerly from the northeasternmost point of land at the eastern end of Smiths Point County Park on the west side of Moriches Inlet, including the inlet, to the southeasternmost tip of land at Tuthill Point on the west side of Tuthill Cove.
2. Town of Southampton: All the area of Moriches Bay, Quantuck, Shinnecock Bay, Cold Spring Pond, North Sea Harbor, Noyac Creek, AND all that area of Sag Harbor and its tributaries.
3. Town of East Hampton: All the area of Three Mile Harbor, Hog Creek, Acabonac Harbor, Napeague Harbor, Montauk Harbor (Montauk Lake), Sag Harbor and its tributaries, including all the area of Sag Harbor lying south of a line extending easterly from the northernmost tip of the large stone breakwater in the outer portion of Sag Harbor to the northernmost tip of Barcelona Point, AND all the area of Northwest Harbor lying southeast of a line extending northeasterly from the westernmost point of land at the entrance to Northwest Creek to the foot of Mile Hill Road.
Updates and changes to the list can be found at dec.ny.gov/outdoor
According to National Weather Service data, 1.43 inches of rain was recorded in a three-hour period Wednesday at Montauk Point. At Gabreski Airport in Westhampton Beach 3.42 inches of rain fell between approximately 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.
Update: As of Friday, East Hampton waters had not reopened for shellfishing. Conservation Department staff took samples in several locations, for which lab results would be forthcoming. The earliest East Hampton waters could reopen is sunrise on Saturday.