Three environmental groups sued Friday to stop Savannah’s more than $600 million harbor-deepening project, arguing the dredging will degrade the lower Savannah River’s marshes and hurt wildlife.
The S.C. Coastal Conservation League and the S.C. Wildlife Federation joined the Savannah Riverkeeper in suing the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
The suit relies on a little-used provision in South Carolina law, clarified in a major state Supreme Court decision last summer, said Frank Holleman, an attorney for the Southern Environmental Law Center. The provision allows so-called “citizens suits” to force compliance with state law.
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In this case, environmentalists say the Corps needs a state permit to dredge the harbor, dump cadmium-tinged sediment in South Carolina and fill wetlands. Cadmium, a toxin that can sicken people and wildlife, is contained in clays to be dug up during the dredging, according to the state lawsuit filed in Jasper County. Also, environmentalists say rare fish, such as the Atlantic sturgeon and shortnose sturgeon, could suffer from the dredging.
The suit also takes aim at the use of oxygen-injecting equipment on the lower Savannah River, a measure the Corps says will keep water quality from getting worse. The equipment has never been used on the scale planned for the river, and many question whether it will work to offset the environmental impact of dredging.
“This project cannot proceed until and unless the Corps obtains a South Carolina Pollution Control Act permit that guarantees the right of citizens to review the proposal and reduce its serious impacts on the Savannah River,” said attorney Chris DeScherer, who is representing the environmental groups through the law center. “As it stands now, the Corps proposes to dredge up potentially toxic pollutants, dump spoils in South Carolina, and damage the river so badly it needs mechanical life support that the government’s own experts say could be lethal.”
Billy Birdwell, a spokesman for the Savannah District of the corps, told The Associated Press the agency has not seen the lawsuit and would not comment.
Friday’s lawsuit is the second legal action in recent months by environmentalists against the port dredging project. They also have challenged a state water quality certification for the project, which was approved after S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley intervened on behalf of Georgia. The state Legislature also has moved to strip South Carolina’s environmental agency of its powers to make dredging decisions for the Savannah River.
The S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control’s November approval upset scores of South Carolina interest groups, ranging from Charleston and Jasper port boosters to environmentalists.
Port boosters say DHEC’s decision hurts South Carolina in its competition with Savannah to attract larger ships. Environmentalists say the approval will not only hurt water quality and wildlife, but destroy part of a rare marsh system on the Savannah River in South Carolina.
The conservation league is one of the state’s biggest environmental groups. The Wildlife Federation is one of the oldest, dating to the early 20th century. The Savannah Riverkeeper is a river protection group.
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