Crime & Safety

Barnegat Man Taken To Hospital After Collision With Telephone Pole

This morning's accident on Route 9 South just in front of the Oyster Creek plant caused a power outage in Forked River, according to JCP&L.

A Barnegat man driving  a pickup truck on Route 9 Sourh in Lacey early this morning hit a telephone pole in front of the Oyster Creek Generating station.

Paul Shook, 28, was operating a 2002 Dodge Dakota, when it struck the pole at approximately 6:15 a.m., according to Lt. James Veltri of Lacey Township police.

Shook was taken to Southern Ocean Medical Center in Manahawkin after complaining of chest pains, he said.

Find out what's happening in Barnegat-Manahawkinwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The accident is under investigation.

The police department closed both sides of the roads since wires were hanging low, Veltri said. Route 9 was closed between Beach Boulevard in Lacey and Bay Parkway in Waretown and detours were set up.

Find out what's happening in Barnegat-Manahawkinwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Currently, Route 9 has reopened with a lane shift both northbound and southbound.

As of 1:30 p.m., 23 customers were still without power, according to JCP&L’s outage map.

Oyster Creek also experienced a power outage as two transformers on site went down, spokesperson Suzanne D'Ambrosio said.

"The power loss caused the transformers to overheat," she said. But the plant's reactor was not impacted.

The transformers were for auxiliary office buildings, she said. Critical personnel and equipment that operates the reactor remained intact.

"As a precaution, we called in outside firemen to make sure the transformers were safe," she said. In the meantime, personnell from the affected buildings relocated to on and offsite offices.

The New Jersey Incident Management Response Team responded and assisted with traffic coordination.  


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

To request removal of your name from an arrest report, submit these required items to arrestreports@patch.com.