Posted on July 6, 2017
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is reversing its schedule and will replenish dunes in Margate instead of Ventnor.
Operations were halted in Ventnor because of bad weather and maintenance work on machines, reported (http://bit.ly/2ts9s5S ) Philly.com.
“One of the two hopper dredges scheduled to do the work is now down for maintenance for approximately two months so we had to change the schedule,” wrote Army Corp spokesman Stephen Rochette in an email.
A pipeline dredge will be used to fill Atlantic City and Ventnor beaches.
Stretches of beach will be closed off 1,000 feet at a time as the Army Corps constructs protective dunes, according to Rochette.
Ventnor will now avoid crucial beach closings in July and early August that concerned officials.
“Now we can breathe a sigh of relief and are extremely thankful for the change in schedule, giving us our entire stretch of beaches back for most if not all of the rest of the summer,” wrote Ventnor Commissioner Lance Landgraf in a statement.
However, the change in scheduling wasn’t received well in Margate, where thousands were spent in court to block the project. Critics say the dunes won’t block flooding and will likely change the beach landscape.
Gov. Chris Christie called objectors in the town “selfish.”
A federal judge ruled the Margate project will proceed even though Margate hasn’t signed an agreement with the Army Corps yet.
Source: The Sacramento Bee
