On Wednesday, July 12, 2023, the ElizabethRiverProject (ERP) and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) came to the District to count and plant the yearling oysters on the Fort Norfolk reef. A total of 1,300 adult, reproducing oysters were raised during the 2022-2023 growing year, and new baby oysters were placed into the cages along the District dock to be cared for during the 2023-2024 year.

USACE Norfolk District has been one of ERP’s River Star Businesses since 2014 and achieved the Sustained Distinguished Performance, Model Level in 2018.

One of the elements for obtaining this award is by growing baby oysters for a year in cages along the dock at Fort Norfolk in partnership with the CBF Oyster Gardening Program.

Since 1997, the ERP River Star Business Program has been able to restore 2,512 acres of wildlife habitat. It has also managed to remove 373-million pounds of pollution and 1-billion pounds of toxic waste from the environment.

At USACE, what makes our programs and projects important are the people we impact. We share this community with everyone in it and are honored to partner with other organizations and residents in a collaborative effort to make substantial differences in our #environment that we all benefit from.