Walter: Dredging could help restore L.I. Sound beaches
Riverhead Town officials are hoping to rebuild part of the Long Island Sound beach in Wading River using sand dredged from Wading River Creek.
The Town Board on Tuesday is expected to approve a resolution transferring $10,000 from Federal Emergency Management Agency aid to hire a contractor to survey the current conditions in the creek and to determine the cost of the project. The town hopes to be reimbursed by FEMA for the entire cost of the project.
Superstorm Sandy left most of the beaches along Long Island Sound with far less sand than they previously had, and some of the homes along Creek Road in Wading River are now much closer to the water than they used to be.
“We have to find sand somewhere to try and protect some of those houses and we’re hoping some of it is still in that creek,” Supervisor Sean Walter said. “The creek didn’t really fill in during Sandy, but it is filling in now. It’s the only place I can think of where we are going to get some sand that’s not going to cost millions of dollars.
“And to the extent we can put it up on the beach and protect some of these houses, we’ll do it. But we’re not going to be able to protect them all.”
The cost of pumping sand from an offshore site could be in the millions, officials have said.
Mr. Walter raised this issue with state Department of Environmental Conservation commissioner Joseph Martens earlier this year at a Long Island Association breakfast, and was told the agency would look into it.
While the town’s efforts to dredge Wading River Creek in the past have been hampered by environmental regulations aimed at protecting nesting piping plovers and winter flounder, Mr. Walter says the town is seeking to do the dredging and beach restoration during the normal environmental windows when dredging is permitted.
The town will need DEC permission to modify its dredging permit to allow for the beach restoration, according to a DEC spokesperson.
“DEC issued a permit for maintenance dredging of Wading River Creek to the Town of Riverhead in 2004 which expires in February of 2014,” said DEC spokesperson Aphrodite Montalvo. “DEC received a request for a permit-modification following Hurricane Sandy from the town and is currently reviewing the request.
