Two developments last week in the ongoing efforts to mitigate the proposed Mobile Bay dredging project. FYI, this U.S. Army Corps of Engineers project to deepen and widen the ship channel in the bay for larger ships to use the Port of Mobile calls pumping sediment directly into the bay. The amount of sediment involved – estimated to be 90 million cubic yards over 20 years – threatens to smother seagrasses, oysters, and reduce dissolved oxygen negatively impacting all aquatic species.
On Thursday, Mobile Baykeeper held a town hall in Theodore, led by William Strickland, Executive Director of MB. Nearly 180 folks attended. Revealed was a two-part plan to stop the dumping. One involves legislation which hopefully puts the sediment to use in coastal restoration. Failure of that, plan two involves litigation against USACE.
On Friday, in an interview on Mobile radio station 106.5, Alabama U.S. Senator Katie Britt stated that while she supports deepening and widening the port, “we want to do it in a responsible way”. She stated she is committed to “ensuring that the sediment is responsibly disposed of. We want to make sure that wildlife thrives and our coastline maintains its beauty… and we believe that both of these things can be done.”.
The FFI Gulf Coast Council has been a supporting partner of Mobile Baykeeper in its efforts to protect and restore Mobile Bay.
