Mobile Baykeeper, along with commercial and recreational fishermen, are poised to sue the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers over its dredging project in Mobile Bay, but first they want to exhaust legislative options.
To deepen the channel to the port, the Corps plans to put 90 million cubic yards of sediment into Mobile Bay over the next 20 years, which Baykeeper leaders say is enough to cover "the entirety of Mobile Bay with 2.5 inches of mud." This mud has already harmed seagrass and oyster reefs, and this new project will further harm the threatened Gulf sturgeon.
Baykeeper representatives and fishermen hosted a town hall in Theodore last Thursday to raise awareness of the issue and answer questions, as well as help attendees send letters to Congress and state lawmakers asking for legislation to stop in-bay disposal that is not of beneficial use. Their goal, they said, is not to stop the dredging project completely, as they recognize its economic value for the Alabama Gulf Coast, but they are advocating for a different solution that is less harmful to the marine life in the bay and the livelihoods of those who fish it.
They are hosting a town hall in Fairhope on Thursday at 6 p.m. at Fairhope United Methodist Church, 155 S. Section St. Follow Gulf Coast Media for more coverage.