SPANISH FORT – The comment period for a proposal to create up to 1,200 acres of wetlands south of the Causeway using material dredged from the Mobile Bay ship channel has been extended to Feb. 3, 2022, a statement from the Alabama State Port Authority said Monday, Jan. 3.
The authority received permission from the US Army Corp of Engineers to extend the public comment period on the project, known as the Upper Mobile Bay Beneficial Use Wetland Creation Site (Planning) Project.
The proposal calls the wetlands to be created in an area about 1.5 to 2.5 miles south of the Causeway using the dredged sediments.
In December, the Spanish Fort City Council voted unanimously to request that the project be extended. City officials said they and the public needed more time to study the proposal and its effects on the Mobile Bay environment.
The ASPA also requested the comment period extension to provide for increased public and intergovernmental agency engagement, Judith Adams, vice president of internal and external affairs for ASPA, said.
“This wetland creation project is vitally important not only to the port, but to community partners seeking environmental restoration and recreational enhancement opportunities,” Adams said. “As such, we are committed to seeing that everyone has opportunity to become engaged,”
The $2.5-million planning project is funded by the Resources and Ecosystems Sustainability, Tourist Opportunities, and Revived Economies of the Gulf States Act (RESTORE Act)-Bucket 2. It is a Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council-approved project, sponsored and directed by the Alabama State Port Authority, the statement said.
The statement said that benefits resulting from the wetland creation project could include improved water quality, more habitat for living coastal and marine organisms, and improved dredging practices that support navigation-related industries.
If the project is approved, the authority plans to request construction funds for the first 100 acres of wetlands from the RESTORE Council in 2022. The entire project to create 1,100 more acres of wetland is expected to take 10 to 20 years.
Technical details of the project design and instructions on how to provide comment to the USACE are provided in the USACE Public Notice.
Comments can be submitted to the USACE Mobile District Engineer, Regulatory Division, Attn: Mr. Dylan C. Hendrix at Post Office Box 2288, Mobile, AL 36628-0001 or by email at dylan.c.hendrix@usace.army.mil, or (251) 694-3772. Comments should reference Public Notice Number SAM-2021-00246-DCH when being sent.
A link to the Public Notice is available at www.UpperMoBayWetlands.com. Copies of all comments should be furnished to the Alabama Department of Environmental Management at coastal@adem.alabama.gov, or mailed to the Alabama Department of Environmental Management, Mobile Branch / Coastal Section, 3664 Dauphin Street, Suite B, Mobile, Alabama 36608. All comments received by Feb. 3, 2022, will be taken into consideration during the permitting process, the statement said.
Additional information can also be found at www.UpperMoBayWetlands.com.
