The 82 moorings set up to park barges in the Lydia Ann Channel are located across from the Port Aransas Lighthouse, just off the south bank of San Jose Island between beacons 97 and 101. Courtesy photo
Parking barges at a facility in the Lydia Ann Channel was recently halted by a federal court order, but the company involved quickly filed an appeal. Oral arguments are scheduled to begin on May 2 before Judge Janis Graham Jack of the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in Corpus Christi. The judge stated in her March 14 ruling it was “unacceptable” that Lydia Ann Channel Moorings LLC continued to operate the barge parking facility five months after the Army Corps of Engineers revoked its permit.
“LACM's position appears to be that, because it is already there without a permit, it should be allowed to remain,” reads the court order. “However, this facility should not be allowed to continue operating in an environmentally sensitive area simply because it is already there.”
The issue came before the court after Port Aransas residents filed a lawsuit in January questioning the Army Corps of Engineers' decision to fast track the permit in the first place. The permit was issued without notifying the public or holding required public hearings to explore the environmental impact, the lawsuit charged.
Friends of Lydia Ann Channel, which filed the lawsuit, also noted the moorings installed were permanent and the permit called for temporary moorings only. The Army Corps of Engineers pulled its permit because of the permanent moorings and ordered they be removed.
Lydia Ann Channel Moorings then filed an emergency motion to stay an injunction.
The request to Stay Preliminary Injunction was denied by the judge for several reasons:
• LACM has continued to park barges at its facility despite the lack of a permit or lease;
• the presence of endangered species that frequent the area, including Kemp’s ridley sea turtles and green sea turtles;
• possible damage to sea grass, which is protected by state law;
• and the mooring company has no permit or lease.
Lydia Ann Channel Moorings argued before the court that an injunction would put it out of business and cause 29 employees to lose their jobs. The company has applied for a new permit with the Army Corps of Engineers. While the corps reviews the permit request, it is also reviewing the company’s plan for removing the 82 steel moorings and restoring the area along San Jose Island.
The moorings were being operated by Lydia Ann Channel Fleet, which provides crew boats and a 1,200-horse-power push boat 24 hours a day to help park barges waiting their turn to get into the Port of Corpus Christi. The 82 moorings can accommodate 240 vessels.
The moorings, which are driven 30 feet below the mud line in 12 feet of water, keep barges from nudging up to the shoreline along San Jose Island, LAMC argued. Parking the barges away from the shore protects the sea grass rather than harms it, the company said. A company spokesman also suggested barges will soon begin parking along the shoreline again, causing much more damage.
More court cases are pending. Lydia Ann Channel Moorings has sued the Friends of Lydia Ann Channel; the group’s spokesperson, Aldo Dyer; and the Texas Observer. The monthly statewide newspaper was named in the lawsuit for an article that the company claimed was “defamatory and libelous.”
