Sen. Cardin praises expansion of Tred Avon oyster sanctuary

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers are scheduled to begin construction on Monday to expand the Tred Avon River Oyster Sanctuary in Talbot County, officials said.

The project is set to add an extra 10 acres of oyster reefs to the sanctuary.

U.S. Senator Ben Cardin of Maryland released a statement on Friday welcoming the construction.

"Oyster sanctuaries continue to transform the Chesapeake Bay for the better," Sen. Cardin said. "A robust and healthy oyster population needs a healthy Chesapeake Bay to survive and thrive. This continuing recovery effort, based on scientific evidence of success, is the very type of federal partnerships that we need to continue."

Back in September a $1 million had been awarded to veteran-owned Blue Forge LLC to identify locations suitable for reef construction and place aged mixed shell over the river bottom.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Baltimore District, had been working on a multi-year project on restoring 78 acres of depleted reefs and planting juvenile oysters at 69 acres low-density reefs in the river.