US agency plans deeper study of sea turtles, dredging threat

By RUSS BYNUM
Associated Press

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — A U.S. agency is agreeing to participate in an in-depth study on whether dredging a Georgia shipping channel in the spring and summer would pose threats to rare sea turtles. The Army Corps of Engineers’ announcement prompted a conservation group to dismiss a federal lawsuit that asked a judge to order such a study. Conservationists have battled the Army Corps since 2021 over plans to dredge the shipping channel in coastal Brunswick during the nesting season for loggerhead sea turtles. Those months have been off-limits to dredging off Georgia and the Carolinas for three decades. Conservation group One Hundred Miles has insisted the Corps produce an environmental impact statement before ending seasonal dredging limits.