Tag Archives: Corps of Engineers
Coast leaders file federal lawsuit to change procedures for future spillway openings
In the spring and summer of 2019, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Mississippi River Commission opened the Bonnet Carré spillway element of the Mississippi River and Tributaries Project, releasing copious amounts of freshwater through the Lake Pontchartrain Basin and into the Mississippi Sound, wreaking havoc on the natural resources, communities and businesses on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.,,, “The members of Mississippi Commercial Fisheries United want to be recorded in history as having fought to defend the environment and marine life in our Mississippi Sound,” said Ryan Radley, a fifth-generation fisherman and executive director of Mississippi Coast Fisheries United. >click to read< 07:46
We ask Sen. Murkowski to let the Pebble process play out
Perhaps you have seen our ads thanking Sen. Lisa Murkowski for standing up for the permitting process for Pebble. The theme of our ads is “we need jobs” and “we want hope.” While the coastal communities in our region see some benefits from the short commercial fishing season, many in our home communities do not. Recently, several of our Bristol Bay leaders took to these pages pushing Sen. Murkowski to more be more aggressively involved in the permitting process. We support Sen. Murkowski staying informed and engaged about the Pebble issue. >click to read< 09:53
EPA kills proposed Obama-era Pebble mine ‘veto’
The Environmental Protection Agency announced Tuesday it will reverse an Obama-era decision to block a controversial Alaska mine project. “After today’s action EPA will focus on the permit review process for the Pebble Mine project” Region 10 Administrator Chris Hladick said in a statement. While the EPA is withdrawing the 2014 determination, which it wrote “was issued preemptively and is now outdated,” the withdrawal does not constitute an approval of the permit application or a determination in the permitting process. “Instead, it allows EPA to continue working with the Corps to review the current permit application and engage in the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process,” the statement reads. >click to read< 19:19
Nitrogen from sewage and farms is starving Florida corals to death, study says
Nitrogen from improperly treated sewage and fertilizer runoff from farms and lawns is starving Florida Keys corals to death, according to a new study published in the journal Marine Biology. The study led by Florida Atlantic University’s Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute at Looe Key, in the Florida Keys, showed that higher nutrient. levels in Florida waters is a key cause of coral bleaching and death. As nutrient runoff from farming and from a growing population increases the amount of nitrogen levels in the water, corals are actually dying before >click to read<15:56
Army Corps releases Pebble Mine draft EIS hearing schedule
The Army Corps of Engineers published the draft EIS last week, sparking comment from both Sen. Lisa Murkowski and Sen. Dan Sullivan. Murkowski said she has not made it all the way through the EIS but has started digging into the 1,400 page document. Sullivan met with reporters last week in Juneau, telling them he felt that 90 days is too short for a comprehensive comment period. The public comment period for the draft EIS will begin March 1 and end May 30, according the Pebble project website. Public hearings will be held in nine different communities between March 25 and April 16. The full schedule is as follows: <click to read<09:50
‘Life-Threatening’ Emergency on Humboldt Bay as Harbor Entrance Silts Up; Commercial Shipping Closed Down
The entrance to Humboldt Bay Harbor is dangerously shallow at the moment — so shallow that commercial ships are unable to traverse the channel leading to local docks. Commercial fishermen, whose boats don’t draft as much, are still able to get in and out of the bay, but a shallow channel means dangerous conditions, with waves breaking against their craft. It’s so bad right now that if the channel silts in much further, Humboldt County’s fuel supply, most of which comes in by barge, could be at risk. That was the message delivered at an emergency meeting,,, >click to read<20:46
Corps of Engineers wants to remove 500 cormorant eggs to support salmon conservation in Columbia River
The Corps is in the fourth year of a five-year plan to cut the cormorant population on East Sand Island at the river’s mouth from more than 14,000 breeding pairs to no more than 5,380 to 5,939 birds to reduce pressure on fish listed under the federal Endangered Species Act. Double-crested cormorants are not listed under the federal Endangered Species Act but have federal protections under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. The colony on the island at one point was believed to account for more than 40 percent of the entire Western population of the double,, >click to read<18:45
VIDEO: Dredging the Oregon Inlet
The U.S. army Corps of Engineers, Wilmington District, started recently dredging operations at the Oregon Inlet in order to remove the shoaling that has been obstructing the federal channel passage for commercial fishing vessels. First on the site was cast dredge Merritt that opened the federal channel at the navigation span of the Bonner Bridge to a controlling depth of 8 feet so the hopper dredge Currituck can work to open the channel to as great a depth as possible up to its authorized depth of 14 feet. Watch the video here 15:04
Congressman Walter B. Jones asks Corps of Engineers for more funding to dredge Morehead City Harbor
Congressman Jones explained that the harbor’s channel has shoaled from its authorized depth of 45 feet down to 35 feet. Furthermore, the $4,855,000 provided for the project in President Obama’s Fiscal Year 2015 budget request is helpful but not sufficient to return the channel to its authorized depth. As a result, many of the jobs and economic impact related to the harbor are in serious peril. Read the rest here 18:51
Conservationists challenge Obama’s Columbia salmon plan
Conservation groups and salmon advocates have challenged the Obama administration’s latest plan for making Columbia Basin dams safe for salmon. NOAA Fisheries NMFS said in a statement that the agency has made “clear and demonstrable progress in rebuilding salmon and steelhead runs throughout the Columbia Basin,” and it expects progress to continue. Read more here 11:12
Fishermen Should be Outraged: Lower Neuse River Watershed being destroyed – Take Action
Once the damage is done and the algae blooms occur, fish kills will certainly happen. Once fisheries samples occur and very few shrimp, fish, crabs and oysters are found, the taxpayer will correct the problem. [email protected] 21:27
Will river water save Louisiana’s coast or kill the marsh?
St. Mary Parish, La. — Azure Bevington, a PhD student in coastal wetlands ecology at LSU, stands in the Wax Lake Delta, a spot that did not exist when she was born in 1980. “It’s really amazing to think about, that this is really some of the newest land in the United States, or the world,” Bevington said. more@wvue
Today – July 1 – is the last day to comment on the plans to build the Pebble Mine near Bristol Bay. It takes only minutes to do so.
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