(06/32) TRENTON -- Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Lisa P. Jackson today announced the reopening of more than 70,400 acres of oyster beds in the Delaware Bay, effective May 2.

Commissioner Jackson closed a 110-square-mile area to protect the public from consuming shellfish possibly contaminated by oil spilled into the upper Delaware Bay on April 25.

Samples of oysters collected from the most heavily affected waters on the New Jersey side showed no evidence of petroleum on or in the shellfish. Commissioner Jackson signed an order revoking the closure of the oyster beds after the DEP determined the waters were safe for shellfish harvesting.

The revocation of the shellfish-bed closure applies specifically to all of New Jersey's waters in the Delaware Bay that are northwest of a line from the Egg Island Point bearing approximately 227 degrees T through Miah Maull Shoal Light.