Shellfish May Survive Edgartown Oil Spill; Emergency Seen as Serious Wake-up Call

By JULIA WELLS

The director of the Martha's Vineyard Shellfish Group said there may be good news for a crop of about a million baby oysters that were threatened by an oil spill in the Edgartown harbor early this week.

"I don't want to say that we are out of the woods entirely, but the oysters may survive," said shellfish group director Rick Karney on Wednesday this week.

Oil Spill in Edgartown Harbor Kills Million Baby Oysters and Fouls Waters

By JULIA WELLS
Gazette Senior Writer

An oil spill of unknown origin sullied the pristine water of the outer Edgartown harbor yesterday, ruining an entire crop of juvenile shellfish at a hatchery owned by the Martha's Vineyard Shellfish Group and posing a possible threat to the rich bay scallop beds off the north shore of Chappaquiddick.

A divided Martha's Vineyard Land Bank Commission quietly postponed any action last night on a controversial deal that is aimed at converting 273 acres of Oak Bluffs woodlands to a private luxury golf course and an array of private homes, the Gazette has learned.

The land bank is now under pressure to approve a proposed conservation component of the development deal for the southern woodlands, the last unbroken stretch of oak and pine forest in the town of Oak Bluffs.

HYANNIS - In a bold show of Island solidarity, Vineyard Steamship Authority governor Kathryn A. Roessel led a move yesterday to ice any expanded ferry service out of New Bedford next year, including freight service.

MVC Returns to Golf Project

Commission Confronts Pressures from Oak Bluffs Selectmen and Developers to Expedite Plan; Compromise Is Reached

By JULIA WELLS
Gazette Senior Writer

The high-speed chase to force quick approval of a luxury golf and housing project in the southern woodlands section of Oak Bluffs continued without letting up last week when the Martha's Vineyard Commission took up an unusual request to hold a high-speed public review of the development plan.

FALMOUTH - - Adding fresh fuel to the fire that has burned around the Steamship Authority for months, the Falmouth selectmen voted 4-1 last night t