LAFAYETTE -- An environmental restoration project in the Atchafalaya Basin can proceed, a federal judge ruled Thursday, despite objections from a group of crawfishermen who fear the project will do more harm than good.

U.S. District Judge Richard Haik, of New Iberia, granted a request by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to dismiss a lawsuit filed by the Louisiana Crawfish Producers Association West.

"We're very pleased (with the ruling)," said Corps of Engineers spokesman Lamar Hale.

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"It means we can move forward without all the balls and chains."

The crawfishermen's group had sought to force the Corps of Engineers to conduct more studies before starting work in Buffalo Cove, a 58,000-acre area of the basin in Iberia, St. Martin and St. Mary parishes.

The site is proposed as a test case for a major restoration project to address poor water quality in the basin.

Hale said the $6.3 million pilot will improve natural water flow in the basin, citing the corp's previous work in nearby Bayou Eugene.

"The crawfishermen are catching more, and that abundance is a good indicator," Hale said.

"Now, we're just expanding the Bayou Eugene work into other areas."

The crawfishermen's group filed suit to stop the project last year, calling for an updated environmental study before work begins.

An Environmental Impact Statement for Buffalo Cove was last completed in 1982, when the restoration project was initially proposed.

"It's old," acknowledged Assistant U.S. Attorney Janice Hebert. "But we're not talking about downtown Seattle, or even downtown Lafayette. Twenty years is not old in the Atchafalaya Basin."

The crawfishermen's attorney, Leigh Hanie, said the Bayou Eugene project was "a failure."

She said the Corps never acknowledged the crawfishermen's position before moving forward with the Buffalo Cove project.

Haik responded that the crawfishermen hadn't provided any experts to contradict studies by the Corps of Engineers.

"You can't say just because you have dead crawfish that there's a problem," he said.

Mike Bienvenu, president of the crawfishermen's group, said the judge's ruling "was to be expected," suggesting politics played a role.

"We knew a deal was already made," Bienvenu said. "It was a waste of our time to come here today."

Bienvenu said the LCPA would appeal the ruling and file for an injunction.

"This is not over," he said.