'Potentially disastrous': Shipyard proposed near nature preserve draws environmental fears

A new shipyard proposed just off the banks of Six Mile Island State Nature Preserve has stirred opposition among conservation and waterway advocates who say the industrial development could jeopardize protected land and habitat.

The proposed “marine repair service facility” would sit a few miles upstream of downtown Louisville on the Indiana side of the Ohio River, serving barges and harbor boats.

Behind the proposal is former Jeffersonville Mayor Tom Galligan, according to a state business filing for the applicant, Six Mile Island Marine Repair Service.

Six Mile Island itself, less than a thousand feet away from the proposed site, is owned by Kentucky. The riverine island, named for its distance from the Falls of the Ohio, was dedicated as a nature preserve in 1979, and “was protected so that it would be allowed to return to its original natural state,” according to Kentucky Nature Preserves.

The proposed shipyard would include the construction of a new dry dock, mooring of four barges along the riverbank, and a decade of river dredging, according to a public notice from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

“From a legitimate ecological and wildlife habitat perspective, it's potentially disastrous,” said Michael Washburn, executive director of Kentucky Waterways Alliance. He called the proposal a “perfect storm of bad decisions.”

Industry neighboring sensitive land

Six Mile Island is “noted for its variety of waterbirds,” according to Kentucky Nature Preserves, which establishes preserves around the state “solely to protect and preserve rare species, the natural environment, or exceptional natural scenery or environmental education opportunities.”

Meme Sweets Runyon, longtime head of local land trust River Fields, said she’s personally seen bald eagles on the island, though it’s unclear whether the eagles are nesting there.

Washburn said the noise and light pollution from the shipyard’s construction and future operations are “likely to be incredibly disruptive” to local bird and wildlife populations.

But in its public notice, the Corps said it did not expect the proposal to trigger a formal consultation by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service with considerations for threatened and endangered species.

“Based on available information, the proposed activity will not destroy or endanger any Federally-listed threatened or endangered species or their critical habitats, as identified under the Endangered Species Act,” according to the notice, “and therefore, initiation of formal consultation procedures with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is not planned at this time.”

A spokesperson for the Energy and Environment Cabinet, which includes Kentucky Nature Preserves, said he wasn’t aware of any formal communication between the applicant and the agency about the project.

Galligan did not immediately respond to an email and phone call requesting comment. Norb Whitlock, former chief of operations for the Corps’ Louisville District and an established expert in water transportation, was also listed as a point of contact for the proposal and declined to comment.

The proposed dredging included in the project also raised alarm for some advocates. The public notice describes plans to remove and discharge 400 cubic yards in the river annually for 10 years.

That amount pales in comparison to what the Corps dredges from the Ohio River and other American waterways every year to maintain navigability for commercial vessels in accordance with federal law.

But excessive dredging can contribute to sedimentation and degradation of aquatic habitat in the waterway. And increased traffic of barges and other large vessels could also add wake, further clawing at the banks of the island.

“However many barges are going to be anchored there, there's going to be so much more activity going on,” Washburn said. “You're gonna get a lot of wake that's going to not only disturb the recreational usage, but it's also going to have deleterious effects on the banks and the shores.”

According to the public notice from the Corps, the project was designed "to minimize impacts to jurisdictional waters to the greatest extent practicable while accomplishing the overall project purpose and need."

No mitigation measures were included in the proposal, according to the Corps, and the agency will have to determine whether the proposal sufficiently addresses concerns about the health of the waterway.

River Fields also raised safety concerns regarding the project. Despite the strong safety record of Wooten River Service and Supply — a marine fuel supplier next to the proposed shipyard location — Runyon said additional barge traffic in the area could increase the risk of collisions, spills or other incidents.

About 2 miles downstream from the area is Louisville’s water intake. Multiple incidents near Louisville in recent years have already resulted in sunken barges and spilled cargo.

“That just seems to be a risk not worth taking,” Washburn said.

Six Mile Island’s local significance

Six Mile Island was owned and farmed by the Ash family for about a century. Around 1940, they stopped farming it, and over the years it was slowly overtaken by nature, according to past Courier Journal reporting — first taken by “chest-high weeds and Johnson grass,” and later by cottonwoods and maple trees.

It was purchased by Kentucky in the late 20th century, around the same time Indiana was planning a nearby riverport, which also drew criticism for its potential environmental harm to the sensitive island.

And for many decades, Six Mile Island has held cultural significance for Louisville and surrounding river towns, marking the halfway point in the Great Steamboat Race, a long-standing annual tradition and part of the Kentucky Derby Festival.

A new shipyard would likely also bring more industrial traffic to an increasingly popular stretch of the Ohio River for recreation. Six Mile Island sits just downstream of Harrods Creek in Prospect and Party Cove on the Indiana side of the river, marking a popular corridor for recreational boaters and paddlers.

“I have boated on this river since I was a child,” said Elizabeth Dodd, a local resident, in a comment to the Corps on the proposal. She described frequent recreational use of the river around the island by family and friends.

“One of the main reasons I love Louisville is due to the Ohio River and all the many memories I have on the river,” Dodd wrote. “Please do not allow this shipyard to be built.”

“Six Mile Island is a beloved spit of land in the Ohio. It's part of the water culture of the city,” Washburn said. “Why this place? Why now? It almost seems to be an affront to the city to place this there.”

Next steps for the proposed shipyard

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, responsible for overseeing projects on the Ohio River and other waterways, is accepting public comment on the proposed shipyard until the end of the business day Thursday.

The agency may also hold a public hearing for the proposal if officials determine there is significant public interest.

In the meantime, River Fields is also in talks with the Kentucky Heritage Council, a state agency responsible for historic preservation, about the project, and whether a Section 106 consultation is appropriate, Runyon said.

This consultation process would assess whether the shipyard, as a federally permitted project, could have adverse effects on nearby historic properties.

Across the river, the Gaffney House and the Country Estates of River Road, both listed in the National Register of Historic Places, overlook Six Mile Island and the proposed site.

To submit public comment via email on the shipyard proposal before the Thursday deadline, the Corps offers the following directions:

• In the subject line of your email, type in only the Public Notice ID: LRL-1992-00532

• Provide your physical mailing address and telephone number.

• Send your email to: lrl.regulatorypubliccomment@usace.army.mil

• If you are sending attachments greater than 10 Mb in size with your email, you must send a hard copy (CD or paper) to the Corps’ physical address as well: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Louisville District, ATTN: Cody Thayer, CELRL-RDN, Rm 183 P.O. Box 59, Louisville, Kentucky 40201-0059

Connor Giffin is an environmental reporter for The Courier Journal and a corps member with Report for America, a national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues. The program funds up to half of corps members’ salaries, but requires a portion also be raised through local community fundraising. To support local environmental reporting in Kentucky, tax-deductible donations can be made at courier-journal.com/RFA.

Learn more about RFA at reportforamerica.org. Reach Connor directly at cgiffin@gannett.com or on X @byconnorgiffin.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Shipyard proposed near nature preserve draws environmental concerns