Posted on August 1, 2025
Fairhope’s city council is taking a stand on the continuing issue of dredging the Mobile Ship Channel.
The Army Corps of Engineers is nearing an end to it’s deepening of the channel.
But that doesn’t mean dredging itself will end.
The Corps will continue to pull mud from the channel for routine maintenance now and in years to come.
Mobile Baykeeper is trying to change how that mud is deposited in the bay.
And at this week’s city council meeting they gained another key endorsement in that effort, reading this proposal:
“Item 21 is a resolution the City Council authorizes Mayor Sherry Sullivan to sign on behalf of the City of Fairhope for Mobile Baykeeper a letter to Senator Katie Britt with regard to dredging.”
The letter put forward by the council is one that has been entertained by a number of Mobile Bay cities and organizations… a letter urging U.S. Senators from Alabama Katie Britt and Tommy Tuberville, as well as congressional representatives Shomari Figures and Barry Moore, to stop the Army Corps of Engineers from “dumping millions of cubic yards of mud into Mobile Bay over the next 20 years.”
It’s a letter drawn up by Mobile Baykeeper.
Having a prominent mayor on the Eastern Shore such as Fairhope Mayor Sherry Sullivan would be an important addition to the effort, says Baykeeper’s Executive Director William Strickland.
“So, it started with Bayou la Batre, then Gulf Shores,” says Strickland, “then Fairhope, Daphne, Spanish Fort, all of the municipalities signing on, not to mention the businesses and other tourism groups, things like that, that have said, hey, this has to end. It shows our community is really united around the water that is really important to us.”
Strickland says they’re not trying to shut down the dredging of the ship channel but are seeking additional funding to pay for the extra cost of putting the spoil somewhere else to protect the fragile ecosystem that nourishes the bay.
“I think they have alternative methods already. I think what it’s going to take, and the Corps has been really clear about this, is they are not going to make a change until they are legally required to do so. So we’re looking to our federally elected officials, Katie Britt and others to legislate, to effectively ban this practice and give the Corps the money they need to do it properly.”
The motion to have the mayor sign the letter was passed by the council.
Several residents spoke at the council meeting as well, expressing concerns about the dredge deposits.
Alabama Senator Katie Britt is a key player in the issue, as she sits on a senate sub-committee that could fund alternative disposal methods.
