Charleston judge refuses to dismiss Savannah River dredging suit
A federal judge in Charleston has declined a request to dismiss a lawsuit over a pollution permit for the $650 million deepening of the Savannah River shipping channel.
U.S. District Judge Richard Gergel said in a written order on Friday that “the issue is ripe for adjudication” and the plaintiffs have shown sufficient cause for the case to proceed.
The Savannah Riverkeeper, the Coastal Conservation League, South Carolina Wildlife Federation and Conservation Voters of South Carolinafiled the complaint against the Army Corps of Engineers over the project.
The deepening of the 38-mile channel is expected to begin next spring.
The environmental groups say the long-awaited project will dredge up toxic cadmium in river silt that will be dumped on the South Carolina side of the river that divides the state from Georgia.
The Army Corps had asked Gergel to dismiss the suit.
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