Erosion Compensation Dredges Up Concerns

By Tim Sullivan

Staff Writer

Dare County residents whose homes and businesses have been threatened by erosion will soon receive aid from the federal government, despite protests from some environmental experts.

Congress recently passed a bill calling for a comprehensive beach nourishment program along a 14.8-mile stretch of beach in Dare County.

The program, which will cost roughly $1.8 billion over the next 50 years, involves relocating sand from the ocean floor to the rapidly eroding beach.

Rep. Walter Jones, R-N.C., sponsored the bill.

Glen Downs, Jones' chief of staff, said it is important to protect shore structures from natural forces. "There are a lot of debates about the efficacy of beach nourishment," Downs said. "But the benefits outweigh the costs."

Downs said half of the funding for the current project will come from the federal government and the rest must be raised at the state and local levels.

But opponents of the bill have voiced both economic and environmental concerns.

"We think it's ill-advised," said Molly Diggins, director of the North Carolina chapter of the Sierra Club. "It's the single most expensive beach nourishment program in the nation."

Orrin Pilkey, a Duke University professor with knowledge of the program, also expressed concerns about the projected cost. "It will cost $30,000 a year per each piece of beachfront property," Pilkey said. "It would be cheaper to just buy out all the property."

Matt Stutz, a Duke Earth and Ocean Sciences graduate student, said buying all of the property along the beach would cost the government $300-400 million.

Jim Stephenson, N.C. Coastal Federation policy analyst, said the beach nourishment program might damage the environment along the shore, dumping large quantities of sand that will smother coastal wildlife. "We are also concerned about the potential impact on fisheries," Stephenson said.

Pilkey said the program is designed to protect man-made structures lining the shore, not to preserve the natural environment. He said nature should be allowed to take its course, and structures built near the sea should either be demolished or allowed to succumb to erosion.

"Their time has come," Pilkey said. "Let it come."

The State & National Editor can be reached at stntdesk@unc.edu.