During an appearance on this week's broadcast of Alabama Public Television's "Capitol Journal," State Sen. Chris Elliott (R-Josephine) voiced his concerns with the dumping of dredge materials into Mobile Bay.
The Mobile Baykeeper has come out against what it calls harmful dumping into the Bay due to a project to deepen and widen the Port of Mobile. The Army Corps of Engineers has permitted dumping into the Bay as part of the project and ongoing maintenance.
Elliott argued that the project to widen, deepen, and maintain the Port of Mobile was not only bad for the environment because it muddied the water, but it also made the water look bad for tourists.
"[I]t creates this huge plume of mud that then settles throughout the bay. The problem is it impacts marine life, and it impacts water quality. And what we are seeing, great segue from our tourist numbers, right, is water quality diminish. And those tourists don't come here to see nasty, muddy water. And what I am concerned is one economic driver really impacting another economic driver. And I think it's a problem," he outlined. "And this project from a port standpoint, in my mind, is doing damage to the port itself and the port's reputation."
RELATED: Watch: Shocking video of Mobile Bay dredging causes outrage, concern
The Baldwin County lawmaker was asked if the harmful dumping of mud was a short-term problem or a long-term problem.
"So, it depends on who you listen to, right?" Elliott replied. "I've talked to some scientists who say, 'Hey, there's no real big deal. It's not a problem.' I've talked to others who say this is a huge problem. And I've talked to even more who say we don't know. But Todd, it's really hard to look at these images of this black mud spilling out into the bay, being pumped into the bay.
"[I]t is hard to look at that and say this is good for the environment," he added. "It's not."
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