Posted on May 5, 2025
A new video showing dredge spoil being dumped into Mobile Bay demonstrates the impact the practice can have on the bay’s ecosystem.
The close-up video made by a shrimper shows massive amounts of spoil being placed between Point Clear and Mobile Bay Lighthouse.
It’s part of a project to widen, deepen and maintain the Port of Mobile. Ships with large vacuum-like tubes suck up mud from the bottom of the port then take it the bay where it is dumped.
The purpose is to allow bigger ships to come into the channel. However, the Mobile Baykeeper says the plan is to dump around 90 million cubic yards of spoil and mud into Mobile Bay over the next 20 years. That is equivalent to more than 42,000 football fields of sludge.
As the Army Corps of Engineers monitors the dredging, everyone, from locals who enjoy the bay to experts who study marine life to professionals who make a living in the waters, says the Corps needs to stop the dumping in the bay.
Mobile Baykeeper supports the project but wants the mud to be dumped offshore or to be used beneficially.
“That mud smothers all the habitat for wildlife,” said Cade Kistler. “It can smother oysters and seagrass. The seagrass can’t get light and oysters get covered up. It covers up all that habitat and all of that turbidity has a host of effects.”
Mobile Baykeeper has discussed other options with the Corps, including beneficial use projects such as shoreline restoration and offshore dumping. They have also spoken to U.S. Sen. Katie Britt (R-Montgomery) about securing funds to save the Bay.
In the meantime, oyster reefs have already been destroyed along the Bay, and those who have made their living with oysters have had to find other ways to provide for their families.
A town hall on the project will be held at St. Phillip Neri Catholic Church on May 15, starting at 6 p.m.
