It’s not just Jersey Shore homeowners that hate dunes, dredging and beach work. Recreational fishermen are now joining the fight against questionable, expensive work by the Army Corp of Engineers and the NJ DEP.
‘Tourism, Real Estate and fishing have been clearly damaged by beach replenishment, dredging and un-needed dune building,’ says a group of fishermen who frequent the Ventnor Fishing Pier.
On the March 10 edition of the ‘SHEP ON FISHING‘ Radio Show (WOND Radio, 1400am. Sat. 7a-8a), a good portion of the hour was devoted to damage being inflicted by the Army Corp of Engineers (ACOE) and the NJ Dept of Environmental Protection (NJ DEP).
LISTEN to a few highlights >
SHOW NOTES:
The Army Corp of Engineers will continue to disrupt the beaches of Margate til June 29. They will resume work by the 2nd week of Sept.
We need to put more money into rebuilding the bulkheads. Why does the NJ DEP & ACOE ignore this fact? Answer: It’s not financially attractive to their business model. Dunes and beach replenishment allows them to ‘make work’.
Anti-dune and beach replenishment drumbeat is getting louder in Margate, Ventnor & Atlantic City.
Tom Foley is the former Atlantic City Director of Emergency Management. Foley says flooding from the back bay, and weak or no bulkheads in AC, are the real problems. Not the front-beach surf.
Atlantic City was designed to drain to beach & bay
Bucktail Willy, aka Bill Shillingford, says: the Army Corp of Engineers are the problem. Beach replenishment to them, is nothing but guaranteed access to tax dollars. Some day they’ll run out of money for beach replenishment and man-made dunes.
It’s been noted that outgoing Congressman, Frank Lobiondo, was relentless in his quest for getting dollars ultimately used to fund whatever former Gov. Christie, the NJ DEP and the ACOE desired. A one-size fits all dune, the full length of the Jersey coast, was the solution Gov Christie approved. A 50 year deal that benefits a small handful of insiders.
Congressman Frank LoBiondo publicly acknowledged that back-bay flooding is the real Jersey Shore problem.
Did ACOE get input from fisherman on how they should target BORROW AREAS for sand? That answer is ‘no’.
The Brigantine jetty has been proven wildly successful. It built up the southern end of Brigantine. It created a marine forest and kept the channel / inlet open.
Army Corp knows that a jetty can work. But these jettys would reduce the need for the ACOE to re-nourish the beaches every 4 years, for the next 50 years. Why give up all those jobs and dollars?
Pinky Kravitz was right. The Atlantic City dunes are too damn high.
Why spend hundreds of millions of dollars each year? The sand just washes away.
Politicians love photo ops. Especially after a dune is built. See: Ventnor Commisioner Landgraf, Former DEP Chief Bob Martin & Congressman Frank LoBiondo. We bet they regret taking this picture. 2 out of the 3, are either out….or on there way out. Will Landgraf face the wrath of Ventnor voters when his commissioners seat is up for re-election?
The Army Corp of Engineers: destroying undersea environment close to shore.
Destroying the ocean bottom. Disrupting reefs, shoals and other marine environs. This is sometimes described as ‘undersea strip-mining’.
Storms & erosion, sweeps sand southward. Into the channel, inlet & back bays. Much ends up in Wildwood.
Why do the ACOE & NJ DEP hate jettys? It kills future work and funding for these un-elected agencies.
Sand pumping and dune building is nothing but a band-aid solution. Bad for taxpayers.
For 50 years, Ocean City would take silt and sand from inlet & back bay…..and pump it back to their front beaches.
The Atlantic City ‘T-Jetty’ needs to be bigger. Margate & Longport at the middle and southern tip of Absecon Island, could be best served by a ‘super jetty’.