Feds Bow To Locals on Beach-fill Funds

Posted November 18th 2019

Avalon, Stone Harbor and North Wildwood took on Washington, and won! Specifically, they took on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which had ruled that non-emergency funds could no longer be used for beach-fill projects using sand from Hereford Inlet.

Representatives from the three local communities joined U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew in Washington on Oct. 21 to meet with Interior Secretary David Bernhardt to urge a return to the former interpretation of the Coastal Barrier Resources Act (CRBA). This will ensure that sand is available for their future beach projects, which largely contribute to the environmental enhancement at Stone Harbor Point and the environmental assets in North Wildwood such as the piping plover habitat.

During Avalon’s last hydraulic beach fill, Stone Harbor was going to be excluded from the project altogether because of Fish and Wildlife’s position. But the project was saved with the cooperation of federal, state and local governments, at an added expense of $6.5 million, as sand was pumped from Townsends Inlet to Stone Harbor. This year, Stone Harbor could not participate in a hydraulic beach fill, in part due to the Fish and Wildlife interpretation of the CBRA.

Following their meeting in October, Bernhardt issued a decision in favor of the three coastal communities during a press conference on Nov. 7 on the beach in North Wildwood.
“Avalon has been at the forefront of this issue for the past few years and pleased to help champion this common-sense approach to the very top of federal government,” said Mayor Martin Pagliughi. “We simply refused to accept the position of some individuals at Fish and Wildlife who are driven by egos and agendas when the federal statute clearly is in our favor, along with voluminous environmental evidence to support our position. Avalon’s efforts on this issue not only provide relief to our neighboring communities who can use some of the several million cubic yards of sand available in Hereford Inlet, but protects Avalon from having Townsends Inlet sand supply unnecessarily depleted.”

Said Stone Harbor Mayor Judy Davies-Dunhour: “This relief is exactly what our three communities have been seeking for years. Stone Harbor Point is now an ecological asset, created only by previous beach-fill efforts. Now we can continue to preserve the Point as an ecological treasure while at the same time using sand in the inlet for the protection of our communities for many years to come.”

Photo: Avalon Mayor Martin Pagliughi joined U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew, Stone Harbor Mayor Judy Davies-Dunhour and North Wildwood Mayor Patrick Rosenello to announce that the government has approved funding to move sand from Hereford Inlet for beach replenishment on the Seven Mile Beach and North Wildwood.