During a meeting on Monday, Fairhope City Council approved a resolution authorizing Mayor Sherry Sullivan to sign a letter, on behalf of the City of Fairhope for Mobile Baykeeper, to U.S. Sen. Katie Britt in regards to the dredging in Mobile Bay.

With the city’s actions, Fairhope joins a growing list of municipalities, local organizations, community leaders and state officials in saying there is a better way to dispose of mud and materials from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' 20-year project to expand the ship channel this year then maintain it.

Mobile Baykeeper, a nonprofit that formed in 1997 to defend and revive coastal Alabama’s waters, has been at the forefront of efforts to stop in-Bay dumping, urging the Senate Subcommittee on Appropriations, which Britt is a member of, to approve the appropriation of federal funds for offshore disposal of dredged materials prohibited for beneficial use along with the immediate short-term ban of in-Bay disposal of dredge spoils.

“This is not a left versus right issue. This is a local issue that affects out environment, our way of life, our commercial and recreational fishing industries and our tourism industries,” Rachel Ball, who serves as the oyster project coordinator for Mobile Baykeeper, said during the meeting.

As previously reported by GCM, Britt has said she is committed to ensuring the Corps “responsibly” disposes of sediment. Baykeeper representatives have also traveled to Washington, D.C. to meet with U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville about the issue.

This is a developing story. Stay tuned for more.