New London — The owner of a road salt business displaced by the planned $235.5 million transformation of State Pier continues his attempt to block construction.

DRVN Enterprises owner Steve Farrelly on Wednesday filed a motion to halt this week’s approval for a state permit that would allow the Connecticut Port Authority to start “in water” work in the Thames River at State Pier. It signals a forthcoming appeal of the decision.

Approval for the permit was issued on Tuesday by state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Commissioner Katie Dykes following a series of hearings that have included vocal objections from DRVN. A federal permit application is pending with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

The work authorized by the DEEP permit is critical for a project that is dependent on dredging and filling in 7 acres of water between the two piers to create one larger pier.

Farrelly’s “motion to stay” asks that the approval be put on hold while he works on an administrative appeal of the decision, though the motion itself does not prohibit DEEP issuing the permit. By state statute, Farrelly has 45 days to file a formal appeal of the decision.

A spokesman with DEEP said the permit had not yet been issued to the Connecticut Port Authority.

Attorney Keith Anthony, who represents Farrelly, declined to discuss details of the grounds for an appeal but said he has the option of filing the appeal in Superior Court.

The newest legal move was filed Wednesday with DEEP’s Office of Adjudications and asks that the commissioner’s approval be suspended until “the administrative appeal is exhausted.”

Farrelly in his motion claims “irreparable harm” to his business if the work at the pier is allowed to go forward without a ruling on an appeal. Work at the port already is underway in earnest on projects outside the scope of the permit.

Farrelly, whose business had been situated at State Pier since 2014, had imported and stored large amounts of road salt at the pier until he was issued a notice to vacate because of the impending construction work. DRVN was given several extensions to stay while it sold its mountain of salt.

When work is completed, State Pier is to be used for the staging and assembly of wind turbines for offshore wind industry joint venture partners Orsted and Eversource, who are contributing $75 million toward the project.

Farrelly continues to argue the adverse impacts of such a transformation were not taken into consideration and that his business is entitled to protection as a water-dependent use of the pier.

“The intervenor (DRVN) has been unable to bring ships into State Pier, has lost sales, and has suffered financial harm since he was unable to access the pier, storage facility, and rail transportation as a direct result of the temporary approval, and now the final approval, of the application,” Farrelly’s motion states.

During a prior hearing, Connecticut Port Authority attorney John Casey had successfully argued DRVN had no special protection as a tenant of port operator Gateway Terminal and that the offshore wind industry plan also is water dependent.

Casey was not immediately available to comment for this report.

Dykes, in her decision to authorize the permit, wrote “the Commissioner is not authorized to interfere with the rights of the waterfront property owner to select who shall occupy the waterfront property when the use of the property will continue to be water dependent, as is the case here.”

g.smith@theday.com