28 March 2000

Shellfish areas closed due to pollution

Seattle Times medical reporter
Three hundred acres of Dungeness Bay on the Olympic
Peninsula have been closed to commercial shellfish
harvesting because of contamination with fecal matter.

The closure by the state Department of Health
affects about one-third, or 25 acres, of the Jamestown
S'Klallam Tribe's commercial oyster operation in the area.
Another 10-acre operation, Northwest Corner Oyster Growers,
also is affected, officials said.

The closure is not effective until April 25 to allow
appeals, but both oyster operations already have voluntarily
stopped harvesting oysters from the affected portion
of the bay, about 20 miles east of Port Angeles.
And both have said they will not appeal, said Don Melvin,
an environmental specialist for the state Department of Health.
[ FOR COMLPETE STORY ]

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