HOLLYWOOD - Government officials have launched a $2.7 million restoration project on the Patuxent River in areas harmed by a devastating April 2000 pipeline oil spill.

The 140,000-gallon spill fouled more than 80 acres of wetlands and shoreline. Potomac Electric Power Co. and Support Terminal Services, the company that ran the ruptured 52-mile pipeline for the utility, agreed to split the costs of the restoration.