Publications:
Fact Cards
 The
Delaware Estuary is part of the Delaware River,
which is the last major free flowing river east
of the Mississippi. The river flows through
four states including portions of New York,
Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware. The estuary
portion of the river and bay is 134 miles long
and is home to more than 6 million residents,
who live in twenty-two counties.
Facts About the Estuary
- The
estuary includes 641 square miles of wetlands
and is home to the world's largest concentration
of horseshoe crabs.
- This
is the second largest staging area in the
Western Hemisphere and plays host to approximately
1.5 million migratory shorebirds each year.
- Pea
Patch Island is the largest heronry north
of Florida with 12,000 pairs of birds.
- Oysters
and blue crab populations are rebounding.
- The
area supports one of the world's greatest
concentrations of heavy industry, including
the world's largest freshwater port in Philadelphia,
and the nation's second largest refining
petrochemical center, which receives nearly
70 percent of all oil shipped to the East
Coast.
- The
estuary receives wastewater discharges from
162 industries and municipalities and approximately
300 combined sewer overflows.
Health
of the Estuary
- PCBs,
chlordane and DDT have been found in fish,
shellfish and peregrine falcon eggs.
- Fish
advisories are in place for American eel,
striped bass, channel catfish, white perch,
carp, small mouth bass, white sucker, blue
gill, and brown and bull head, all of which
show evidence of toxic substances such as
PCB, Chlordane, dioxin and mercury.
- A
proposed channel deepening (from 40 to 45
feet) could re-suspend toxins in the
water column.
- Between
21 and 24 percent of the estuary's historic
wetlands have been lost.
- Population
increased 1.2 percent between 1970 and 1990
but is expected to grow
10.9 percent from 1990 to 2020.
- Developed
land is estimated to increase by 36% or
almost 275,000 acres between 1990 and 2020.
Accomplishments
of the Estuary Program
- Implementing
a comprehensive program to reduce PCBs and
clean-up contaminated estuary sites.
- Developing
more stringent toxic water quality criteria.
- The
Convention of Wetlands of International
Importance recognized 126,000 acres of wetland
habitat as internationally important to
shorebirds migrating from South America
to North America.
- Installed
two fish ladders on the Cooper River and
an eel ladder in Cape May to provide passage
past dams and open historical spawning areas
to river herring, shad, eel, and other species.
- Initiated
habitat restoration projects on corporate
properties including one project that restored
90 acres of habitat.
- Conducted
storm drain stenciling programs in Philadelphia
and Camden to educate citizens about the
problems associated with dumping waste down
storm drains.
- Four
Governors, two EPA Regional Administrators,
the Corps and the Regional Administrator
of the National Park Service re-pledged
their support of the Delaware River and
Estuary in 1999.
For
Viewing and Printing:
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Estuary Program files,
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