MOBILE, Ala. (NBC 15) — New state restrictions on so-called “mud dumping” in Mobile Bay may be facing their first major test. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers released a proposed dredging plan for Mobile Harbor this month, and critics say it leaves the door open for a practice Alabama lawmakers recently voted to severely limit.
An estimated 4.1 million cubic yards of sediment – enough material to nearly fill the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans – will be dredged from Mobile Bay’s shipping channel each year to maintain the harbor’s 50-foot depth. In its maintenance dredging plan, the Corps states the material could be put in previously approved thin-layer placement areas in Mobile Bay, a practice critics call “mud dumping.”
“Protecting that Bay is my number one priority,” said State Sen. Chris Elliott…