Posted on May 12, 2016
By Nanette LoBiondo Galloway, ShoreNewsToday
A stalled dunes project in Long Beach Island has resumed, state officials said in a press release Thursday, May 5, but there is no word on when dunes will be built in Margate.
The $138 million U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ project, which was suspended over the winter, has resumed and will continue through the summer, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Bob Martin said.
Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Company, which won a contract to construct engineered beaches and dunes along 13 miles of LBI, temporarily left the project last December to work on other projects, Martin said.
But today there are three dredges pumping sand in Beach Haven.
“While we were disappointed the dredges abandoned the project and left some parts of Long Beach Island vulnerable for the winter, we are delighted that work has resumed,” Martin said. “We remain committed to work with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to complete this project and provide maximum coastal projection for the people, homes and businesses of Long Beach Island.”
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Commander Lt. Col. Michael Bliss said although competition for dredging equipment is great nationwide, there are three Great Lakes hopper dredges working on the project, which state officials say will reduce the risk of storm damage on the island.
The project originally began last May in Ship Bottom, Brant Beach and other parts of Long Beach Township.
The dredge Liberty Island started pumping sand just north of West Osborn Avenue on the borough’s border with Long Beach Township, while the dredges Dodge Island and Padre Island were throwing sand 2 miles north at East 13th Street.
Work in Beach Haven is expected to be completed by the first week in June, before moving south to Holgate at the southern tip of the island.
Once the work in Holgate is completed, the contractor will head north to North Beach and then complete the project in Loveladies.
On March 28, an Ocean County Superior Court judge ruled that the state has the legal authority to condemn property from beachfront homeowners for the purpose of shore protection.
Atlantic County Superior Court Judge Julio Mendez issued a similar ruling April 11 saying the state’s use of eminent domain to take 87 easements on city-owned property to build sand dunes in Margate was not arbitrary and capricious.
The City of Margate filed a lawsuit to stop the Absecon Island Shore Protection Project because the state’s “one size fits all” approach to building one contiguous sand dune on Absecon Island was not appropriate for Margate, officials stated. At a three-day hearing, Margate officials and experts testified that because the city has a border-to-border bulkhead system, an alternative to building 12.75-foot-high sand dunes should be considered.
The federally funded beach and dune project is being undertaken as part of the Christie administration’s strategy to build a comprehensive coastal protection system to guard against the kind of destruction the state witnessed during Hurricane Sandy in October 2012.
According to NJDEP Spokesman Bob Considine, the state has not set a date to start building dunes in Margate.
Margate’s easements, which include 10 that are on private property, have yet to be turned over to the state.
The deadline for Margate to file an appeal is 45 days after the judge’s decision.
Margate officials could decide if it will appeal the decision at its next meeting on May 19, City Commissioner John Amodeo said.
The city also recently applied for a $3.5 million state grant to replace a stretch of deteriorating bulkhead along the bayside, which is where most of the city’s storm flooding comes from, Margate officials say.
On May 5, the city commission adopted an ordinance adjusting its developmental regulations to increase the height of bayfront, canal and lagoon bulkheads to 9.0 feet (NAVD 88), and beachfront bulkheads to 13.0 feet (NAVD 88).
Source: ShoreNewsToday
