(GULFPORT, Miss., October 2, 2025) – The Mississippi Sound Coalition, led by its Chairman, Marlin Ladner, held a Public Update Meeting on Wednesday, Oct. 1 at the Institute for Marine Mammal Studies in Gulfport, Mississippi. An audience of more than 70 people heard 11 different speakers speak briefly on: a new proposed Congressional Act, restarting the Lower Mississippi River Comprehensive Management Study, legal and legislative efforts, economic impacts, scientific studies and a planned Congressional field hearing on the Coast, all centered around the Bonnet Carré Spillway’s devastating effects on the Mississippi Sound.

Gerald Blessey, Coalition Manager, shared the group’s proposed Congressional Act named the Northern Gulf Estuary Protection Act. The 33-page Act would take a holistic approach to managing the massive 31-state Mississippi River Basin –– from addressing the way fresh water from the river and its tributaries is dispersed and managed –– to directing resources to focus on pollution dumped into the river. The Act, if enacted, would turn protecting and restoring the Mississippi Sound (along with the other estuaries of the Northern Gulf of America) into United States law.

Blessey encouraged Mississippi’s Congressional delegation to sponsor the legislation, adding that “it redefines flood control as a dual-purpose mission: protect human life/property and safeguard estuarine ecosystems critical to U.S. food security, fisheries and coastal economies.”

“This is a national problem that needs a national solution,” Blessey continued. “The Mississippi River Basin covers 41 percent of the continental United States. These Spillway operations, especially the Bonnet Carré, harm estuaries by reducing salinity, introducing pollutants and creating hypoxic ‘dead zones.’  This Act is one of many major actions necessary to modernize how we manage this River Basin and save maritime ecosystems in areas like the Mississippi Sound.”

Julie Miller, Deputy District Director for Congressman Mike Ezell, updated the group on a letter he, Louisiana Congressman Troy Carter and four other Members of Congress, sent to the Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development, requesting at least $7.5 million to re-start the now-paused U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Lower Mississippi River Comprehensive Management Study (LMRCMS) in the next fiscal year. This study will produce critical information to Congress as a basis for changes in the law to protect the estuaries of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama.

Robert Wiygul, Lead Environmental Counsel for the Coalition, outlined the past and future strategies to use litigation and the courts to make the Coalition’s case. He pointed out that the successes in court so far have paved the way to productive conversations now being had with the Army Corps of Engineers. Keith Heard, the Coalition’s head of Governmental Affairs in D.C., announced that Congressman Ezell, in collaboration with all of Mississippi’s Senators and Congressmen, is arranging a U.S. House Committee public hearing to be held on the Coast later this year to get input from local leaders and citizens about management of the Mississippi River water and spillways.  As soon as the date and location are certain, the Coalition will notify the public and press.

Mayor Rusty Quave of D’Iberville pointed out that while Harrison County, Hancock County, the cities of Biloxi, D’Iberville, Gulfport, Long Beach, Pass Christian, Diamondhead, Bay St. Louis, Waveland, Ocean Springs, Gautier, Moss Point and Pascagoula are all Coalition members, only Biloxi, D’Iberville and Harrison County are currently supporting litigation and advocacy efforts financially, and Mayor Quave appealed to the other members to share in funding to save our Sound.

Carley Zapfe, Community Engagement Coordinator for the Mississippi Sound Estuary Program, shared how her group works hand-in-hand with the Coalition and that her organization is hoping to soon achieve recognition in the National Estuary Program under the EPA. This will come with Federal dollars to continue the group’s work to protect and support the Mississippi Sound Estuary.

Other speakers outlined real consequences of continued releases of saltless, polluted Mississippi River water that finds its way into our Sound via the Bonnet Carré, including threats to the tourism and seafood industries along with threats to bottlenose dolphins.

“In 2019, this was the one time, unlike previous Spillway openings, that ecology and economy were hand-in-hand,” said Linda Hornsby, Executive Director, Mississippi Hotel & Lodging Association. “Even though the beaches were not closed, tourists stopped coming due to rumors caused by the real water quality issues. Lodging that year was down 47% compared to the same period of time the previous year. That meant jobs were lost, businesses closed and room tax revenue, which we depend on for tourism marketing, was also down.”

Ryan Bradley, commercial fisherman and Executive Director of Commercial Fisheries United, agreed from the seafood industry side saying, “Just like the hotel and lodging folks, the openings really crippled the seafood industry,” he said. “In 2019, the Bonnet Carré opening resulted in a catastrophic federal fishery disaster. We are still dealing with the fallout. The oysters are just now beginning to come back, and another prolonged opening could set us back once again. The number of fishermen and shrimp boats is now at a critically low level.”

Scientists Dr. Paul Mickle, Co-Director of the Northern Gulf Institute (NGI) at Mississippi State University (MSU) and Dr. Jerry Wiggert, Professor of Marine Science, School of Ocean Science and Engineering, The University of Southern Mississippi (USM), highlighted their work using research grants from the Mississippi Sound Coalition. Their peer-reviewed research, due out in a few months, will, among other areas of study, show precise “tipping points” in the timing and volume of River water released by the Bonnet Carré Spillway for the Corps to manage the River to minimize or avoid harm to the Sound. Dr. Mickle also explained Harrison County’s recent contract with the Northern Gulf Institute to place a water quality monitoring gauge at the Rigolets Straights to aid in these precise measurement to guide the Corps.

“We can’t just sit by and rest,” said Dr. Moby Solangi, Chairman, Mississippi Sound Coalition Science Committee, who founded IMMS and has been studying bottlenose dolphins and marine mammals for more than 50 years. He summarized compelling scientific facts showing the water from the 2019 Spillway opening killed 10% of the dolphin population in the Sound. “The Mississippi Sound basically acts a dump from all the of industrial waste, sewage and pollution discarded into the river from 31 states and two provinces in Canada. The Mississippi Sound isn’t directly tied to the Mississippi River, so the pollution and excess freshwater come from diversions and spillways used to manage the river and the system must change.  The dolphins are our canaries in the coal mine.  When they go, we’re next.”

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MISSISSIPPI SOUND COALITION (MSSC)

The Mississippi Sound Coalition’s mission is to restore and protect the ecosystem of the Mississippi Sound estuary and the way of life and economies of coastal communities that depend on it, based on good science and fair public policy. We seek win-win solutions, preferably by negotiated agreements and legislation, but, when necessary, members who chose to be parties engage in litigation in support of our Mission. Our scientific research, public education, and advocacy are focused primarily on ways and means to avoid or mitigate harm to the Mississippi Sound caused by the Bonnet Carré Spillway and other negative impacts.

The Coalition provides public education on the subject, and, if necessary, engages in litigation. Members of the Coalition include Harrison County, Hancock County, the Mississippi cities of Biloxi, D’Iberville, Gulfport, Long Beach, Pass Christian, Diamondhead, Bay St. Louis, Waveland, Ocean Springs, Gautier, Moss Point, Pascagoula, the Mississippi Hotel & Lodging Association and Mississippi Commercial Fisheries United.