Army Corps is sued again by the Center for Food Safety (CFS) and the Coalition to Protect Puget Sound Habitat (Coalition). The suit once again asks the court to stop the Corps from "...continuing the excessive expansion of industrial shellfish operations without considering the cumulative impacts to Washington's rich and diverse coastal waters [and tidelands]."

(See article here: https://olyopen.com/2021/12/20/groups-again-sue-army-corps-to-protect-washingtons-coastal-areas-and-endangered-species-from-industrial-shellfish-operations/)

(See papers filed here: https://www.centerforfoodsafety.org/files/2021-12-20--ecf-01--complaint_33955.pdf)

Amy Van Saun, senior attorney at CFS notes, “Despite clear statutory mandates and a previous court decision requiring the government to fully consider the potential impacts of proposed shellfish operations, the Corps continues to ignore its duties by allowing industrial shellfish operations to degrade important aquatic habitats, including through the use of plastics and pesticides, endangering Washington’s shorelines, biodiversity, and surrounding communities,” said Amy van Saun, senior attorney at CFS.

Laura Hendricks, director of the Coalition notes, “The Coalition is outraged that the Corps would try to avoid doing what is necessary as a bare minimum under the law to protect orcas, salmon, and marine life in Washington from the toxic and physical impacts of the massive number of industrial-scale aquaculture operations that have been proposed. This is precisely the sort of agency action that gives ‘government’ a bad name.”

Puget Sound's marine ecosystem is under pressure from a number of sources. While some argue "ecosystem services" from shellfish outweigh the transformation occurring to this critical habitat, it cannot simply be accepted without looking at the entire system and the cumulative impacts various actions have. This was argued once in court and was won. That it has to be argued again simply speaks to an agency's inability to do what it's role is.