BALTIMORE (AP) - Two environmental groups aim to plant 5 million oysters in Baltimore's Patapsco River by 2020.
The goal was announced Thursday by the Great Baltimore Oyster Partnership, a collaboration between the Waterfront Partnership of Baltimore's Healthy Harbor Initiative and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.
The project was first reported Wednesday by The Daily Record.
The Healthy Harbor Initiative says oysters once thrived in tidal portions of the Patapsco. The group says the oysters' natural ability to filter out pollution can help restore the health of the Baltimore Harbor.
Some of the oysters will be grown by volunteers in Baltimore's Inner Harbor, but about 85 percent will come from the Chesapeake Bay Foundation's oyster restoration center in Shady Side.