Lawsuit seeks to protect dolphins by limiting use of flood-control spillway near New Orleans

By EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS
Associated Press

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A new lawsuit says opening a spillway as a flood-control measure in 2019 sent polluted fresh water from the Mississippi River into the Gulf of Mexico and killed bottlenose dolphins that live in saltwater. Several local governments and business groups filed the federal lawsuit Monday against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The lawsuit argues that the Marine Mammal Protection Act requires federal agencies to obtain a Commerce Department permit when their actions may disrupt the behavioral patterns of animals such as the bottlenose dolphin. The lawsuit says dolphins in the Mississippi Sound developed debilitating skin lesions in 2019.