1. CSX Collaborates with Partners
to Protect Chesapeake Bay
By Clarence Gooden

2. Introduction
• In a unique habitat restoration initiative, CSX
teamed with the Maryland Department of Natural
Resources and the National Fish and Wildlife
Foundation to deliver 22 freight trains of fossilized
oyster shells at cost from Florida to the Chesapeake
Bay over the course of a year. In total, the project
transported 100,000 tons of fossilized shells to
Maryland in an attempt to rebuild habitats in two
oyster sanctuaries. Shipments arrived at the CSX ore
pier in Curtis Bay about every two weeks and
employees transferred the shells to barges that
carried them to sanctuaries on the Maryland
Eastern Shore.

3. Protect Chesapeake Bay
• These fossilized shells offer an environment for
young oysters to grow.
Oyster reefs are critical to the Chesapeake Bay
ecosystem. Reefs provide natural filters for the
water by removing silt, sediment, and nitrates. The
project achieved remarkable results in certain areas,
such as Harris Creek, where the delivery of more
than a billion oysters has significantly increased
local concentrations. Areas that previously had
fewer than one oyster per square meter now have
more than 25 oysters in the same space.