Conservation Groups ‘Skeptical’ Of Savannah Harbor Oxygen Injector Test

Conservation groups “remain skeptical” that machines injecting oxygen into the Savannah harbor will offset threats to fish caused by deepening the busy shipping channel to the Port of Savannah, but they won’t return to court to fight the $973 million project, according to the environmental groups’ attorney.

The Southern Environmental Law Center submitted its response Friday to a two-month test run the Army Corps of Engineers conducted to show it could mechanically replace a small loss of dissolved oxygen in the stretch of the Savannah River being deepened to make room for larger cargo ships.

“Overall, it appears that the Test Run report shows that the Oxygen Injection System is capable of delivering oxygen to the river,” law center attorney Chris DeScherer said in a letter to the Army Corps. “However, we remain skeptical that the System will effectively work in perpetuity to mitigate for the impacts of the project.”