Year long program to ship fossilized oyster shells to Maryland now at an end

A year-long project to transport fossilized oyster shell from Carrabelle to rebuild oyster reefs in Maryland has now ended.

Over the past 12 months, CSX trains have transported about 100,000 tons of fossilized shell to help rebuild habitat in two Maryland oyster sanctuaries.

That’s enough fossilized shell to cover 80 football fields with shell 12 inches deep.

The fossilized shell was taken from Gulf Coast Aggregates near Carrabelle.

Trains carrying the shells were delivered to CSX’s Curtis Bay ore pier once every 10 to 14 days, where the shells were transferred to barges for the trip to the sanctuaries on Maryland’s Eastern Shore.

The shipments were needed because of a lack of natural, affordable shell available to support restoration in Maryland.

The shipments were funded through an agreement with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and CSX to transport the shell at cost. 

The shell material cost about $6.3 million dollars; the CSX in-kind transportation was about $2.4 million dollars. 

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