Robin's Blog for Dauphin Island

Dauphin Island erosion lawsuit settlement would give $1.5 million for restoration

Posted by ksayre August 04, 2009 22:30PM

Press-Register file photoA group of students from Bay Side Academy stand on the edge of a scarp where the surf from the Gulf of Mexico is eating away at the beach on the east end of Dauphin Island Thursday, Oct. 23, 2008.

DAUPHIN ISLAND, Ala. -- After nearly a decade of legal proceedings, Dauphin Island property owners and the federal government have reached a proposed final settlement over erosion that would give the island about $1.5 million toward restoring the beaches, according to court records.

The Dauphin Island Property Owners Association filed a lawsuit against the federal government in 2000 that blamed chronic erosion and land loss on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' dredging activities in the Mobile Ship Channel.

The lawsuit claimed that sand naturally flowing on westward currents was trapped in the channel and prevented from replenishing the island's beaches.

A lawyer who represents the Property Owners Association and a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Justice declined to comment.

"The settlement agreement reached...if approved, will put an end to years of litigation and will likely avoid more years of litigation and uncertainty," said Bill Harper, president of the Property Owners Association, in a letter to members. "This lawsuit and other litigation has been an obstacle to moving forward with efforts to secure projects that will restore Dauphin Island.

According to the proposed settlement, the federal government would pay $1.44 million and Alabama's government would pay another $60,000. The funds -- after legal fees -- would have to be applied to a phase of a beach restoration project: a feasibility study, engineering or putting sand on the beach, according to court records.

Because it is a class action lawsuit, a hearing for property owners to voice their opinions about the proposed settlement has been scheduled in federal court on Sept. 15. A federal judge must approve the settlement.

Erosion has plagued the island and hundreds of feet of beach have been lost in some areas on the Gulf of Mexico side. Barrier islands naturally grow, change shape and move with the currents, but the lawsuit claimed land loss was caused by the Corps' dredging practices.