Judge dismisses lawsuit seeking to protect dolphins along Miss. coast. Gulf

GULFPORT, Miss. (AP) — A federal judge has thrown out a lawsuit that sought to protect dolphins along the Mississippi Gulf Coast after dozens were killed or sickened in 2019 by the prolonged opening of a flood control spillway.

U.S. District Court Judge Louis Guirola Jr. ruled Wednesday that the local governments and business groups that filed the civil complaint in January lack legal standing to sue. The judge said the plaintiffs, who were called the Mississippi Sound Coalition, failed to show they faced imminent harm.

The coalition sued the Army Corps of Engineers for operating the Bonnet Carre’ Spillway in New Orleans. The spillway is used to divert water from the Mississippi River to Lake Pontchartrain and Lake Borgne, after which it flows into the Mississippi Sound in the Gulf of Mexico.

When the river is high, opening the spillway relieves pressure on the levees that protect New Orleans. However, it also removes pollutants and nutrients in the Mississippi Sound and reduces salinity.

The coalition’s lawsuit said polluted freshwater flowing into the Gulf in 2019, when the spillway was open for a total of 120 days, left dead and sick dolphins stranded along Mississippi beaches. An expert cited in the lawsuit said 142 sick and dead dolphins washed ashore.

The coalition said the grisly sight had tarnished the tourism and seafood industries, which are vital to the area’s economy.

Lawyers for the group argued that the Marine Mammal Protection Act requires the military and other agencies to obtain a permit from the U.S. Department of Commerce when their actions may kill, injure or harass animals such as bottlenose dolphins. They wanted a judge to order the Army Corps to seek permits before future Bonnet Carre Spillway operations.

The judge sided with the Army Corps, ruling that the coalition failed to show it faces imminent harm from future spillway openings because their frequency and duration are unpredictable — and so is the potential threat to dolphins.

The judge noted that the coalition presented no evidence that dolphins were harmed when the spillway was last opened in 2020 or during previous openings in 2018 and 2016.

“The possibility of future harm claimed by plaintiffs is too speculative,” the judge wrote.

Robert Wiygul, an attorney for the Mississippi Sound Coalition, did not immediately respond to an email message Saturday.

Photo: Workers open bays of the Bonnet Carre Spillway to divert rising water from the Mississippi River to Lake Pontchartrain, upstream from New Orleans, in Norco, Louisiana, May 10, 2019. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)

Copyright 2024 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

TOPICS
Lawsuits Mississippi