In September of 2002, a surface water discharge at elevated temperatures at AmerGen Energy Company LLC’s Oyster Creek Generating Station in Forked River, Ocean County, resulted in the death of at least 5,876 individual fish in Oyster Creek.  Several species of fish were affected including striped bass, white perch, and Atlantic menhaden.

Using $50,000.00 from the Oyster Creek natural resource damage settlement, the Department purchased new educational exhibits and media for three primary interpretive areas at Island Beach State Park in Ocean County.  These areas include the Breezeway at the North Pavillion, the Forked River 112 Interpretive Center and the Interpretive Center of the Nature Center.

Among the new interpretive exhibits installed are 220-gallon and 175-gallon capacity aquariums, an ocean life touch tank, fiberglass fish mounts, and aerial photographs of Sedge Islands, Island Beach, and Barnegat Inlet.  The coastal exhibits will be used to educate the thousands of children and adults that visit the park each year to better understand the ecological values of the resource.