Environmental groups lose dredging request
TRENTON - Five environmental groups have lost their bid to have a new Endangered Species Act review undertaken before a lawsuit goes forward on the Delaware River dredging project. Their request came after the federal government proposed an endangered listing for Atlantic sturgeon last month.
TRENTON - Five environmental groups have lost their bid to have a new Endangered Species Act review undertaken before a lawsuit goes forward on the Delaware River dredging project. Their request came after the federal government proposed an endangered listing for Atlantic sturgeon last month.
But U.S. District Judge Joel Pisano rejected the bid Friday, noting that the Army Corps of Engineers is conferring with the National Marine Fisheries Service on the consequences of the sturgeon proposal. Pisano also said an injunction is blocking further channel dredging pending a Delaware agency's decision on key environmental permits.
Pisano said the stay sought by the Delaware Riverkeeper Network, Delaware Nature Society, National Wildlife Federation, New Jersey Environmental Federation and Clean Water Action would damage those seeking a $300 million deepening of the 103-mile channel to 45 feet from its current 40-foot depth between Philadelphia and the Atlantic. - AP