
Posted on February 25, 2021
BAY HEAD – As the sea continues to carve into the storm-battered dunes on Bay Head’s beach, Mayor Bill Curtis says he hopes an emergency permit to make repairs will soon be approved by the state Department of Environmental Protection.
The borough plans to use one of its on-call contractors to lower the slope of eroded dunes that Curtis said have become increasingly dangerous since a strong nor’easter struck the Jersey Shore earlier this month.
“Right now we have a very dangerous situation,” Curtis told the Press. He said he believes the borough could get the permit from DEP this week.
Beach erosion cost: Who will pay to fix Jersey Shore eroded beaches? Army Corps help might not be coming
The mayor estimates nearly 10 more feet of sand has been carved out of dunes at Bridge Avenue and Mount Street in the week since Curtis and U.S. Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., met in Bay Head with Lt. Col. David Park, commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Philadelphia District, and DEP officials to review storm damage.
“It’s creating a cave-like carve-out,” Curtis said. “I am afraid kids will see that and go in, and it will collapse.”
‘I’m just very concerned’: NJ asks feds to help restore ravaged beaches
The borough has closed its beaches: only the Strickland Street entrance remains open.
Curtis said he did not know yet what the emergency repair work would cost. And while the mayor said Bay Head hopes to get reimbursed for the dune from either the state or the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, so far, it seems unlikely that money will be forthcoming.
New Jersey has requested financial help from the corps to repair the dune line in Bay Head — and other areas of the Jersey Shore — that suffered severe erosion during a strong nor’easter that struck the coast during the first week of February. See drone footage of the damage to Bay Head beaches in the video above.
Officials who toured in Bay Head said the severe erosion, which led to drops of 10 to 18 feet from the top of the dune line to the sand, presents a public safety hazard that should be immediately repaired.
Park said last week that the corps does not believe that the damage caused by the nor’easter would qualify as “an extraordinary event,” the designation the agency must meet before it can place sand on badly damaged beaches before scheduled “renourishment” projects.