May 25, 2022
Alexandria Trimble, Earthjustice
Today, a coalition of Gulf and environmental groups represented by Earthjustice filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers over its proposal to dredge the Matagorda Bay shipping channel through an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Superfund site to vastly expand exports from an oil export terminal on the Texas Gulf Coast.
The project, which would deepen and widen 27 miles of the shipping channel from the Gulf of Mexico to the Seahawk Terminal in Point Comfort, Texas, threatens to stir up mercury from the Superfund site and imperils the livelihoods of local people working in the fishing, oyster, and shrimp industries. The project should not move forward without a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) from the Army Corps, the environmental groups argue. The project also jeopardizes climate goals by locking in new fossil fuel export infrastructure and a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions through 2070.
“Our fishing community has spent decades trying to recover from dangerous industrial waste dumped in the bay, and this project has the potential to upend all our hard work. Max Midstream will not make a profit at the expense of the bay and our health and livelihoods,” said Diane Wilson, fourth-generation shrimper and executive director of San Antonio Estuarine Bay Waterkeeper.
To read about Diane’s most recent on-the-ground action at Max Midstream headquarters, go to Earthworks.org.
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