Volunteers needed April 3 and 4 at Clam Creek Pier
JEKYLL ISLAND, Ga., March 30 /PRNewswire/ -- As a part of the
Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Five Star Restoration Program,
project partners CDR Environmental Specialists Inc., Georgia Power,
Honeywell, Jekyll Island Authority and the University of Georgia Marine
Extension Service are currently working together to rehabilitate
approximately 2,640 square feet of oyster habitat along 1/4 mile of Clam
Creek, a small creek located on the north end of Jekyll Island.
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20050216/CLW066LOGO )
CDR Environmental Specialists Inc. received a $20K Five Star Challenge
Grant to restore the oyster habitat as a result of Southern Company's
recent $1.2 million five-year partnership with the Five Star Restoration
Program. The grant will fund planned project initiatives to promote
community awareness about the importance of oyster shell recycling and the
critical function that oysters serve in the coastal region ecosystem.
An oyster shell collection center has been established on Riverview
Drive and is open for community use to recycle oyster shells. The center is
open Monday - Friday from 7 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and on weekends from daylight
to noon. The recycled oyster shells will then be bagged and used to
construct an oyster reef in Clam Creek. After the completion of the Clam
Creek oyster reef project, bagged shells will be used to establish
additional oyster reefs. For more information, please visit
http://www.shellfish.uga.edu/oysterrest.html. The center is open to the
public and restaurant owners are encouraged to participate.
Community volunteer opportunities are now available to assist in oyster
shell bagging and oyster reef planting. On Tuesday and Wednesday April 3
and 4 from 1 to 5 p.m. volunteers are needed at Clam Creek Pier to assist
with the Clam Creek restoration. For more information about this project
and future volunteer opportunities, please call Erica LeMoine with the
Marine Extension Service's community-based GEORGIA (Generating Enhanced
Oyster Reefs in Georgia's Inshore Areas) program at (912) 598-2348.
The final phase of the project will monitor water quality and
biological productivity associated with the new oyster reef.
"Oysters are a very important species in the coastal region of our
state," said Chuck Huling, Vice President, Environmental Affairs at Georgia
Power. "We're looking forward to working on this project to show how
re-establishing the oyster population can aid in revitalizing the health of
the coastal environment."
The revitalization project should be completed by December 2007. The
Five Star Restoration Program is a national initiative providing financial
and technical support to wetland, riparian and coastal habitat restoration
projects. It brings together citizen groups, corporations, students,
landowners, youth conservation corps, and local, state and federal
government agencies to build diverse partnerships and foster local natural
resource stewardship through education, outreach and training activities.
Georgia Power is the largest subsidiary of Southern Company, one of the
nation's largest generators of electricity. The company is an
investor-owned, tax-paying utility with rates well below the national
average. Georgia Power serves 2.3 million customers in all but four of
Georgia's 159 counties.
SOURCE Georgia Power
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Related links:
http://www.georgiapower.com
http://www.shellfish.uga.edu/oysterrest.html
Photo Notes:
NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20050216/CLW066LOGO
AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org
PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com
CONTACT:
Lolita B. Jackson of Georgia Power,
+1-404-506-7676, +1-800-282-1696, corpcomm@georgiapower.com
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