Commercial fishermen and residents of Cameron Parish, Louisiana, say a dredging project has buried their crab traps with mud and harmed wildlife.

The sediment was hauled up from the bottom of an area being dredged as part of the construction of Venture Global’s new CP2 liquified natural gas export terminal. Local advocacy groups say the sediment spilled from or bypassed containment areas in Cameron Prairie National Wildlife Refuge.

The release filled canals to the north with mud, burying crab traps and leaving only enough room for 3-4 inches of water, according to local observers. The mud also made its way into Calcasieu Lake, an estuary and habitat for fish, shrimp, and other commercial species.

The dredging is tied to the construction of CP2 LNG, a terminal planned on Monkey Island, directly east of Venture Global’s existing Calcasieu Pass LNG terminal. Construction on the first phase of CP2 LNG is expected to finish by mid-2026, with a second phase completed by late 2027.

“I refuse to sit back and watch further destruction of my lake,” said Jeremy Waltrip, a charter boat captain and fisherman. “We won’t be lied to, bought off, or silenced.”

Local groups are calling for an investigation by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which oversees dredging projects. They are also demanding a hold on the dredging project until the problem is fixed, as well as compensation for fishermen whose gear was affected