State environmental officials say work has begun on a series of man-made reefs to improve marine life habitat and bolster recreational opportunities for fishing and diving off the south shore of Long Island.
Federal and state permits were recently secured for the Rockaway Reef project.
The reef is a 413-acre area south of Rockaway Beach off Long Island. Under previous permits, thousands of tons of rock, concrete and steel were placed there over the decades since 1965. The most current permit had ended in 1989.
Transco-Williams, the company associated with the Rockaway Delivery Lateral Pipeline Project, will pay for the $1.6 million project.
More than 450 sections of concrete coated steel pipe will be placed to expand the network of individual patch reefs throughout the Rockaway Reef site.
