Puerto Rico Board Denies EPA Request to Dump Dredge Waste in Ocean

For Immediate Release, October 7, 2022

Contact:

Federico Cintrón Moscoso, El Puente, (787) 529-5802, fcintronmoscoso@elpuente.usPedro Saadé Lloréns, University of Puerto Rico Law Clinic, (787) 397-9993, pedrosaade5@gmail.comCatherine Kilduff, Center for Biological Diversity, (202) 780-8862, ckilduff@biologicaldiversity.org

Puerto Rico Board Denies EPA Request to Dump Dredge Waste in Ocean

Shipping Channel Plan for LNG Facility Harms Communities, Corals, Marine Life

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico— The Puerto Rico Planning Board has formally objected to the federal government’s plan to dispose of millions of cubic yards of dredge waste in five ocean sites around Puerto Rico without further environmental studies.

The board did not find the Environmental Protection Agency’s plan to be sufficient for preventing harm to coral reefs, which play a role in preserving fisheries and protecting communities and infrastructure from severe storms.

The EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers had applied to the board for a “certification of consistency,” which would have confirmed that their plan was in line with the Puerto Rico Coastal Management Program. The federal plan would allow the ocean dumping of waste created by dredging the San Juan Bay shipping channel, which would give large ships access to a new liquified natural gas terminal.

“This request to dispose of the contaminated material from the San Juan Bay around Puerto Rico, without consulting with the communities that have opposed the dredging, is contrary to the vision expressed by the EPA to pay more attention to environmental justice communities,” said Federico Cintrón Moscoso, director of the organization El Puente-Enlace Latino de Acción Climática. “Before this plan goes any further, they demand that all activities related to this dredging comply with an environmental impact statement in which the communities and affected groups have a chance to participate.”

The San Juan Bay Dredging Project involves dredging and disposing of more than 2 million cubic yards of sediment. Dumping this waste could contaminate ocean ecosystems with heavy metals like arsenic, cadmium and mercury, and other harmful chemicals such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and polychlorinated biphenyls.

Community and conservation groups — El Puente, CORALations and the Center for Biological Diversity — filed a federal lawsuit in August over the Army Corps’ plans to expand the shipping channel. The lawsuit challenges the Corps’ failure to prepare an environmental impact statement analyzing the effects gigantic tankers and the new LNG terminal will have on local communities, corals and wildlife. The suit also contests the Corps’ plan to dispose of some dredged material in the Condado Lagoon nature reserve, which is important habitat for manatees.

“Puerto Rico’s Planning Board deserves kudos for denying the EPA’s dirty dumping plan,” said Catherine Kilduff, an attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. “Dumping waste onto corals in the ocean doubles the destruction from dredging projects. The San Juan dredging project saddles Puerto Rico with a dependence on fossil fuels and harm to communities and eco-tourism, and ocean disposal magnifies that damage.”

Sediment plumes leaking from barges carrying dredge waste often smother corals and other bottom-dwelling wildlife. Reefs along the north coast of San Juan near the proposed dumping sites provide habitat for seven species of Endangered Species Act-listed corals, including elkhorn, staghorn and pillar corals. Some of these areas are federally designated critical habitat for elkhorn and staghorn corals as well as proposed critical habitat for the other species.

Coral reefs — which are extremely biodiverse — also support several other marine species, providing habitat for more than 25% of all life in the ocean.

El Puente de Williamsburg, Inc. – Enlace Latino de Acción Climática is a group concerned about the impacts of climate change in the archipelago of Puerto Rico.

CORALations is an award-winning organization founded in Puerto Rico in 1995 to work with Caribbean communities to protect and restore their coral reefs.

The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 1.7 million members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places.

Bayern board dumps Kahn after winning title

Kahn, who caused controvesy after sacking Julian Nagelsmann in March despite the coach still having the side in the hunt for a treble, will be replaced by the current vice-chairman of the board Jan-Christian Dreesen, while a successor is still to be decided for Salihamidzic.

Dreesen, 55, has served as vice-chairman of the Bayern board for the past 10 years and announced he would leave at the end of the 2022/23 season to seek new challenges. But he's now staying on to take the most challenging reins available.

Herbert Hainer, chairman of the FC Bayern supervisory board, said: “Jan-Christian Dreesen has done an outstanding job for FC Bayern over the past 20 years. He lives FC Bayern, knows the club inside out and knows what is important here. They are very pleased that he is taking on this task. He can get to work without a period of adjustment, and that's exactly what FC Bayern needs in the current situation.”

Dreesen said: “First of all, I would like to thank their supervisory board for the trust they have placed in me. I had planned something else in my life, but when FC Bayern calls, you leave everything else behind.

"This club has always been a matter of the heart for me and I also know what positive power it can develop. I will continue to use all my energy to be successful with FC Bayern in all areas and I am looking forward to the new task. Those who know me know how much the club, its employees and their fans mean to me.”

Kahn was appointed to the Bayern board at the start of 2020 and took over as chief executive in July 2021. Since then, FC Bayern has won every trophy available to it, some multiple time, and he would have seen Bayern claim an 11th straight Bundesliga title in Cologne, but revealed he'd been forbidden to attend.

"Unbelievable! A big compliment and congratulations guys! I always told you so!" Kahn tweeted after the 2-1 win at KC Koln that sealed the title, with Borussia Dortmund having blown the league lead by drawing 2-2 with Mainz.

"Always give everything to the end and never give up. I am incredibly proud of you and this achievement! I would like to celebrate with you, but unfortunately I can't be with you today because the club has forbidden me. I'm looking forward to next season. They will not only be German champions for the 12th time! Let's celebrate!"

Before that, Kahn was goalkeeper and captain for Bayern from 1994 to 2008 and won the UEFA Champions League, the FIFA Club World Cup, the UEFA Cup, the Bundesliga eight times, and the DFB Cup and the DFL League Cup six times each.

Hainer said: “The decision to part with Oliver Kahn was anything but easy for the supervisory board. Nevertheless, due to the overall development, they have come to the decision to make a new appointment at the top of the executive board. They would like to thank Oliver Kahn for his commitment, his ideas and for everything they have achieved together. He will always remain a great figure at FC Bayern. They wish him all the best for his future.”

Puerto Rico Board Denies EPA Request to Dump Dredge Waste in Ocean

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico— The Puerto Rico Planning Board has formally objected to the federal government’s plan to dispose of millions of cubic yards of dredge waste in five ocean sites around Puerto Rico without further environmental studies.

The board did not find the Environmental Protection Agency’s plan to be sufficient for preventing harm to coral reefs, which play a role in preserving fisheries and protecting communities and infrastructure from severe storms.

The EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers had applied to the board for a “certification of consistency,” which would have confirmed that their plan was in line with the Puerto Rico Coastal Management Program. The federal plan would allow the ocean dumping of waste created by dredging the San Juan Bay shipping channel, which would give large ships access to a new liquified natural gas terminal.

“This request to dispose of the contaminated material from the San Juan Bay around Puerto Rico, without consulting with the communities that have opposed the dredging, is contrary to the vision expressed by the EPA to pay more attention to environmental justice communities,” said Federico Cintrón Moscoso, director of the organization El Puente-Enlace Latino de Acción Climática. “Before this plan goes any further, they demand that all activities related to this dredging comply with an environmental impact statement in which the communities and affected groups have a chance to participate.”

The San Juan Bay Dredging Project involves dredging and disposing of more than 2 million cubic yards of sediment. Dumping this waste could contaminate ocean ecosystems with heavy metals like arsenic, cadmium and mercury, and other harmful chemicals such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and polychlorinated biphenyls.

Community and conservation groups — El Puente, CORALations and the Center for Biological Diversity — filed a federal lawsuit in August over the Army Corps’ plans to expand the shipping channel. The lawsuit challenges the Corps’ failure to prepare an environmental impact statement analyzing the effects gigantic tankers and the new LNG terminal will have on local communities, corals and wildlife. The suit also contests the Corps’ plan to dispose of some dredged material in the Condado Lagoon nature reserve, which is important habitat for manatees.

“Puerto Rico’s Planning Board deserves kudos for denying the EPA’s dirty dumping plan,” said Catherine Kilduff, an attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. “Dumping waste onto corals in the ocean doubles the destruction from dredging projects. The San Juan dredging project saddles Puerto Rico with a dependence on fossil fuels and harm to communities and eco-tourism, and ocean disposal magnifies that damage.”

Sediment plumes leaking from barges carrying dredge waste often smother corals and other bottom-dwelling wildlife. Reefs along the north coast of San Juan near the proposed dumping sites provide habitat for seven species of Endangered Species Act-listed corals, including elkhorn, staghorn and pillar corals. Some of these areas are federally designated critical habitat for elkhorn and staghorn corals as well as proposed critical habitat for the other species.

Coral reefs — which are extremely biodiverse — also support several other marine species, providing habitat for more than 25% of all life in the ocean.