Barges line up along the shoreline of St. Joe’s Island in Lydia Ann Channel. The 82 dolphin moorings installed there must be removed according to a decision by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Courtesy photo
Controversial barge moorings off the east bank of San Jose Island adjacent to Lydia Ann Channel must be removed, according to a letter from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers dated Sept. 12, 2016. The letter was sent to Lydia Ann Channel Moorings, LLC, as the result of a lawsuit filed against the Corps of Engineers by the Friends of Lydia Ann Channel. The lawsuit challenged a letter of permission granted the company by the corps allowing it to install the moorings.
Filed in December 2015, the lawsuit charges the corps with violating the Endangered Species Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, the Administrative Procedures Act, the Marine Mammal Protection Act and the National Historic Preservation Act. On March 23, the corps suspended the company’s letter of permission while it re-evaluated the issue.
“We have concluded our process, and after thorough consideration of the materials you submitted, hereby revoke LOP SWG-2014-00460,” reads the letter, which is signed by Lars N. Zetterstrom, P.E., colonel, U.S. Army, commanding. “As a result, the [moorings] constructed pursuant to the LOP are no longer authorized and must be removed.”
Non-permitted use of the structures could be considered obstructions to navigations, which could lead to involvement by the U.S. Coast Guard.
The letter further states that the Army Corps of Engineers will conduct a public interest review and “alternatives analysis” to evaluate the company’s removal and restoration plan. The ruling involves 82 steel mooring pilings installed by LACM to park barges along the St. Joe's Island shoreline. The pilings are 24 inches wide and are installed in water 12 feet deep.
“This is plain and simple … a victory!” announced the Friends of Lydia Ann Channel’s Facebook page. “This was teamwork at its best. The community of those who care came out as the winner.”
Lydia Ann Channel, LLC, will be expected to report on how it will remove the pilings and restore the environment where they were installed. The company will also have to assure the corps that environmental impacts are minimal by providing threatened and endangered species surveys and surveys of seagrass and oyster beds. Those plans should be submitted within 30 days of the date of the letter, it concluded.
The Port of Corpus Christi was also notified that the moorings should no longer be used, addressing an additional letter to Captain of the Port Tony Hahn. The corps does not have jurisdiction over vessels utilizing the moorings. That falls to the port.
Attorneys for the defendants in the lawsuit (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Lydia Ann Channel Moorings, LLC), filed a Defendants’ Notice of Revocation of Letter of Permission with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas in Corpus Christi on Sept. 14, 2016.
According to the filing, “Counsel for the Corps has conferred with counsel for Plaintiff, and these parties are engaged in settlement negotiations.”
A major piece of negotiation concerns payment of lawyer’s fees, according to the Friends web posting. The organization is asking for reimbursement of attorneys’ fees as well as oversight in the removal of pilings and restoration of the environment.
