Tell the U.S. Army Corps: NO dredging in Matagorda Bay!

Matagorda Bay is a major food source for the Texas Gulf Coast, and it supports the economy of surrounding communities with abundant fishing opportunities. This project could change all of that.

The potential for increasing mercury levels in local seafood is too dangerous for those who eat it and too economically damaging to those who rely on fishing to support themselves. We cannot allow it to move forward.

The dredged sediment could also kill oyster reefs and seagrasses. New and larger oil tankers will threaten the region with devastating oil spills that would wipe out wildlife and hurt communities. This plan has no redeeming qualities, but we need your help to stop it.

Army Corps of Engineers

Dear Dr. Raven Blakeway,

Matagorda Bay is a food source for the Texas Gulf Coast. I am concerned that disturbing the Alcoa Superfund site will increase mercury levels in local seafood and harm those who eat it. I am also concerned that dumping the dredged sediment will smother oyster reefs and seagrasses and harm the livelihoods of fishers, shrimpers, and oystermen. Additionally, I am worried that larger ships using the expanded channel will create larger wakes and increase erosion of the shoreline and beaches.

As you prepare this Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS), please thoroughly study the following environmental risks.  
•	The SEIS should thoroughly study the mercury concentrations in the sediments to be dredged. The SEIS must also study and model how dredging and disposal may resuspend contaminated sediments and impact mercury concentrations in the water and the food web.  
•	The SEIS should thoroughly document the location of existing oyster reefs and seagrasses, and accurately account for the impacts of the project. The Corps’ 2019 EIS said that dredging would only affect 130 acres of oysters and did not address impacts to seagrass. However, a 2021 study by Texas A&M University’s Harte Research Institute found that the channel expansion would threaten 839 acres of oyster reefs and 1,017 acres of seagrass. We need an honest forecast of how much habitat this project will destroy. 
•	The SEIS should study how the wider channel and larger vessel traffic will influence wave action and impacts to already-eroding shorelines.

Thank you for considering these comments. As you prepare the SEIS, please take seriously the messages you’re receiving from local residents and other important stakeholders who want to keep Matagorda Bay a beautiful place to live, work, and vacation.

Sincerely,

{user_data~First name} {user_data~Last name}
{user_data~City}, {user_data~State} {user_data~Postcode}

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