U.S. waterways plan draws lawsuit over species impacts

The Chesapeake Bay Bridge in Annapolis, Maryland. April 25, 2021. REUTERS / Sarah Silbiger

• Environmental group says federal motorways of the sea program increases risk of harm to endangered species

(Reuters) – A US plan to expand commercial use of navigable waterways increases the risk for already endangered species like the North Atlantic right whale, an environmental group claims in a lawsuit filed Tuesday in federal court in Newport News, Virginia.

The Center for Biological Diversity has accused the U.S. Maritime Administration, part of the Department of Transportation, of violating the Endangered Species Act (ESA) with its America’s Marine Highway program by not interfering with the Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service agreed to ensure the program does not endanger the legally protected species.

The Center for Biodiversity says many of the motorways of the sea are in critical habitats for ESA-listed species, including humpback whales and leatherback turtles.

The program, which is more than a decade old, received nearly $ 11 million this year to incentivize shippers to use their 25,000-mile network of navigable waterways rather than congested roads. The Center for Biodiversity says this could lead to more ship attacks and other threats to ESA-listed species.

The Maritime Authority did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Jared Margolis, an attorney for the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a statement that the federal government “cannot continue sacrificing our waters and wildlife by ignoring the effects of a program that has the potential to cause widespread damage.”

The Marine Highway program was launched in 2007 to reduce road congestion by developing marine corridors. The designated waterways often run along important motorways and can serve as an alternative to land transport.

In May, the Maritime Administration announced that it was providing US $ 10.8 million in grants, including to increase shipping traffic on the motorways of the sea that run on bodies of water such as rivers, bays and coastal areas of the oceans.

One project that applied for part of the funding is the James River Container Expansion Project, which transports goods on the James River in Virginia. The project aims to expand an existing container shipping service.

The river is a designated critical habitat for a “distinct population segment” of the Atlantic sturgeon, which the ESA classifies as endangered and which the lawsuit claims to be vulnerable to ship attack.

The case is Center for Biological Diversity v United States Maritime Administration, US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, No. 4: 21-cv-00132.

For the Center for Biodiversity: Hannah Connor and Jared Margolis with the Center for Biodiversity

Sebastian Bad

Sebastien Malo reporter on environmental, climate and energy disputes. Reach him at sebastien.malo@thomsonreuters.com