Environmentalists celebrate legal victory

The opponents of the proposed Matagorda Ship Channel expansion declared victory in December when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers withdrew an environmental assessment it used in its project plans, according to the Victoria Advocate. A coalition of groups claimed it was an inaccurate assessment of the environmental impact of widening and deepening the Matagorda Ship Channel. The groups used a university study as evidence to show the Corps had underestimated the potential destruction of oyster reefs and seagrass beds.