Artificial Island is a

U.S. The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

island located along the eastern shore of the

Delaware River The Delaware River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States and is the longest free-flowing (undammed) river in the Eastern United States. From the meeting of its branches in Hancock, New York, the river flows for a ...

, mostly in southwestern

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

with a tiny portion inside

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic states, South Atlantic regions of the United States. It borders Maryland to its south and west, Pennsylvania to its north, New Jersey ...

's boundaries. It is part of both Lower Alloways Creek Township,

Salem County, New Jersey Salem County is the westernmost county in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Its western boundary is formed by the Delaware River, and it has the eastern terminus of the Delaware Memorial Bridge, which connects the county with New Castle, Delaw ...

and

New Castle County, Delaware New Castle County is the northernmost of the three List of counties in Delaware, counties of the U.S. state of Delaware (New Castle, Kent County, Delaware, Kent, and Sussex County, Delaware, Sussex). As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ce ...

. The island is separated from

mainland Mainland is defined as "relating to or forming the main part of a country or continent, not including the islands around it egardless of status under territorial jurisdiction by an entity" The term is often politically, economically and/or demogr ...

New Jersey by

Alloway Creek Alloway Creek is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed April 1, 2011 tributary of the Delaware River in Salem County, New Jersey in the United States. The name is a derivat ...

and Hope Creek. It is called "artificial" since portions of the island are composed of land reclaimed from

Delaware Bay Delaware Bay is the estuary outlet of the Delaware River on the northeast seaboard of the United States, lying between the states of Delaware and New Jersey. It is approximately in area, the bay's freshwater mixes for many miles with the saltw ...

Geography

The island is geographically unusual since it contains one of two tiny

pene-exclave An enclave is a territory that is entirely surrounded by the territory of only one other state or entity. An enclave can be an independent territory or part of a larger one. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is s ...

s of the state of Delaware, which is created by the Delaware-New Jersey

land border Borders are generally defined as geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other subnational entities. Political borders ...

crossing the northern tip of the island, an area that is completely cut off from the rest of Delaware across the Delaware River to the west, and has no road connections to it. New Jersey is separated from Delaware by the Delaware River except for these two areas, which has a land border. The only land access to this exclave at the north tip of the island is from New Jersey. This exclave was created as a result of the

Twelve-Mile Circle The Twelve-Mile Circle is an approximately circular arc that forms most of the boundary between Delaware and Pennsylvania. It is a combination of different circular arcs that have been feathered together. It is nominally a circle with a variab ...

, which was part of the resolution of the colonial-era Penn-Calvert Boundary Dispute among what would become the states of

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

, Delaware, New Jersey, and

West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...

. The other exclave of Delaware is

Finns Point Finns Point is a small promontory in Pennsville Township, New Jersey, Pennsville Township, Salem County, New Jersey, and New Castle County, Delaware, located at the southwest corner of the cape of Penns Neck (cape), Penns Neck, on the east bank of ...

north of Artificial Island, in Pennsville Township to the northwest of

Fort Mott State Park Fort Mott, located in Pennsville, Salem County, New Jersey, United States, was part of the Harbor Defenses of the Delaware, a three-fort defense system designed for the Delaware River during the Reconstruction era and Endicott program moderniz ...

, New Jersey.

Nuclear power plants

The island is located at 39.4756672°N

latitude In geography, latitude is a geographic coordinate system, geographic coordinate that specifies the north-south position of a point on the surface of the Earth or another celestial body. Latitude is given as an angle that ranges from −90° at t ...

, 75.5360354°W

longitude Longitude (, ) is a geographic coordinate that specifies the east- west position of a point on the surface of the Earth, or another celestial body. It is an angular measurement, usually expressed in degrees and denoted by the Greek lett ...

Salem Nuclear Power Plant The Salem Nuclear Power Plant is a two-unit pressurized water reactor nuclear power plant located in Lower Alloways Creek Township, in Salem County, New Jersey, United States. It is owned by PSEG Nuclear LLC of the Public Service Enterprise ...

and

Hope Creek Nuclear Generating Station Hope Creek Nuclear Generating Station is a nuclear power plant located in Lower Alloways Creek Township, Salem County, New Jersey, United States. It sits on Artificial Island alongside the Salem Nuclear Power Plant. The station is owned and opera ...

are located at the southwest end of the island.

New Jersey Wind Port

In June 2020, Governor

Phil Murphy Philip Dunton Murphy (born August 16, 1957) is an American politician, diplomat, and financier serving as the 56th governor of New Jersey since 2018. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he was elected governor i ...

announced plans to develop the New Jersey Wind Port, a first-in-the-nation

offshore wind port An offshore wind port describes several distinct types of port facilities that are used to support manufacturing, construction and operation of an offshore wind power project. Offshore wind turbine components are larger than onshore wind component ...

infrastructure investment that will provide a location for essential staging, assembly, and manufacturing activities related to offshore projects for wind power offshore New Jersey and on the East Coast. The site, which would allow for the docking of heavy-lift ships, is not hindered by air draft restrictions since there is no bridge downstream of the facility, allowing passage of massive

wind turbines A wind turbine is a device that converts the kinetic energy of wind into electrical energy. , hundreds of thousands of large turbines, in installations known as wind farms, were generating over 650 gigawatts of power, with 60 GW added each y ...

. The Wind Port has the potential to create up to 1,500 manufacturing, assembly, and operations jobs, as well as hundreds of construction jobs. Manufacturing and marshalling projects supported by the Wind Port will drive economic growth in

Salem County Salem County is the westernmost county in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Its western boundary is formed by the Delaware River, and it has the eastern terminus of the Delaware Memorial Bridge, which connects the county with New Castle, Delaware. ...

, in South Jersey, and throughout the state. The state is committed to using union labor to construct the Wind Port and intends to set a new standard for inclusion of minority and women workers and business owners. Construction began in September 2021.

References

{{authority control Border irregularities of the United States Borders of Delaware Borders of New Jersey Exclaves in the United States Islands of Delaware Islands of New Jersey Landforms of New Castle County, Delaware Landforms of Salem County, New Jersey Lower Alloways Creek Township, New Jersey Artificial islands of New Jersey Islands of the Delaware River Land reclamation in the United States

Geography

Nuclear power plants

New Jersey Wind Port

See also

References