Sewage overflow prompts pause on shellfish harvesting in part of Chesapeake Bay

BALTIMORE — The Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) has issued an order suspending shellfish harvesting in a section of the Chesapeake Bay as a following a sewage overflow, the Maryland Department of the Environment said Thursday.

The order, which extends a closure to the east and south of Hart-Miller Island, was issued by the Department of Natural Resources as a precaution after the overflow in Baltimore County was reported to MDE.

The overflow was stopped Tuesday, and the area will be reopened to shellfish harvesting on January 11.

While the overflow did not occur in shellfish waters, it has the potential to effect shellfish waters downstream in the bay.

"Shellfish are filter feeders with the ability to filter water and get food from microscopic organisms in the water. If the waters are polluted, this filtering process can concentrate disease-causing organisms associated with raw sewage and other sources, such as animal waste.", the MDE said.

Other locations that have already been approved or provisionally permitted for shellfish collection remain unaffected by this order.