Mobile Baykeeper, Center for Biological Diversity announce intent to sue U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

MOBILE, Ala. ( WKRG ) — Mobile Baykeeper and the Center for Biological Diversity have announced they intend to sue the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

A certified letter said the Corps didn’t protect threatened Gulf sturgeon from a dredging project aimed at deepening the federal navigation channel 5 feet from the Gulf of Mexico through Mobile Bay and into Mobile Harbor.

The Corps said the project would keep Mobile Harbor competitive with other ports in the Gulf and the country. Mobile Baykeeper and the Center for Biological Diversity said the Corps’ plan violates the Endangered Species Act.

“Learning that Gulf sturgeon spend so much of their lives in Mobile Bay is an exciting discovery, and it means they need help there,” said Lindsay Reeves, a senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. “We have to make sure the Corps is doing right by these ancient creatures and protecting this important habitat from dangerous dredging.”

The two organizations added in their release: “The Corps has a legal duty to consult with scientists at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and NOAA Fisheries to make sure its dredging project does not drive Gulf sturgeon extinct or destroy the places they need to survive.”

The Mobile Chamber said in a press release that the plan “was approved through a rigorous environmental process.”

“While lawsuits like this one are adept at generating headlines, they’re not exactly known for building bridges (or in this case, shipping channels) towards a better future,” Chamber President and CEO Bradley Byrne said. “The deepening and widening of the ship channel, which was approved through a rigorous environmental process, will make Mobile Bay the deepest harbor on the Gulf Coast.”

The project would provide a “huge competitive advantage as it allows access to larger cargo ships, attracts new businesses and trade opportunities, and in turn, translates into more jobs and economic growth for our region,” Byrne said.

The lawsuit, he said, would threaten job growth.

“We believe economic prosperity and environmental protection can go hand in hand,” he said.

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