Tuesday, July 7, 2026

Health officials close part of James River to shellfish harvesting

Health officials have closed part of the James River in the Newport News area to shellfish harvesting after significant flooding.

Virginia Department of Health announced Tuesday that since floodwaters can be contaminated with pollutants such as pathogenic bacteria and viruses, shellfish from the affected area are unacceptable for consumption.

Officials say eating shellfish from the closed areas could cause gastrointestinal illnesses including norovirus, hepatitis A and shigellosis.

The temporary emergency closure affects filter-feeding bivalve mollusks including oysters and clams, but not crabs or fin fish, in the lower river and its tributaries upstream from the James River Bridge. The closure is in effect through March 8. Officials say they’ll monitor water quality and reopen the area earlier if it is safe.

John Mangalonzo
John Mangalonzohttps://wydaily.com
John Mangalonzo ([email protected]) is the managing editor of Local Voice Media’s Virginia papers – WYDaily (Williamsburg), Southside Daily (Virginia Beach) and HNNDaily (Hampton-Newport News). Before coming to Local Voice, John was the senior content editor of The Bellingham Herald, a McClatchy newspaper in Washington state. Previously, he served as city editor/content strategist for USA Today Network newsrooms in St. George and Cedar City, Utah. John started his professional journalism career shortly after graduating from Lyceum of The Philippines University in 1990. As a rookie reporter for a national newspaper in Manila that year, John was assigned to cover four of the most dangerous cities in Metro Manila. Later that year, John was transferred to cover the Philippine National Police and Armed Forces of the Philippines. He spent the latter part of 1990 to early 1992 embedded with troopers in the southern Philippines as they fought with communist rebels and Muslim extremists. His U.S. journalism career includes reporting and editing stints for newspapers and other media outlets in New York City, California, Texas, Iowa, Utah, Colorado and Washington state.

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