Friday, during an appearance on Mobile radio FM Talk 106.5's "The Jeff Poor Show," State Sen. Chris Elliott (R-Joesphine) said there was a possible legislative remedy for stopping the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from dumping spoil from a dredging project underway directly into Mobile Bay.
"[T]here's some options at the state level that have been done in other states," he said. "And we may be forced into looking at some of those if the Corps is going to continue to just, you know, just not listen to what lawmakers are saying."
According to the Baldwin County lawmaker, the State of Alabama has jurisdiction over Mobile Bay, which could give the Alabama Legislature the authority to halt the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' actions.
"So, you know, what they are doing right now is disposing of spoil in state waters," Elliott explained. "They are disposing this dredge material on state bottom lands, right? Is what the bottom of the bay is, and that belongs to the state. And so there are, you know, the state has jurisdiction there. There are all the laws that can be put in place that can keep that from happening. And it's been done in other states. I don't want this. A legislative solution is not always the best one."
"And I'm not sure that it's one here," he added. "But at some point, these folks have got to listen and understand that what they are doing is not OK. I would like to work with them to find another option. I would like to work with them to advocate for funding for a responsible way to deal with this dredge material. But simply ignoring legislative leaders and ignoring the cacophony of voices that is out there saying, 'This is a horrible thing,' is not OK and is not going to go unanswered."
Jeff Poor is the editor-in-chief of 1819 News and host of "The Jeff Poor Show," heard Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-noon on Mobile's FM Talk 106.5. To connect or comment, email [email protected] or follow him on Twitter @jeff_poor.
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