Tag Archives: Army Corps of Engineers

Montauk Faces Its Long-Term Future

December 17, 2018 Corky Bucek Leave a comment

Below excerpts are from a December 17th editorial in Newsday. The full article is available here.

“Every year, it seems, the ocean washes away the sand covering the bags [installed as part of an artificial dune by the Army Corps of Engineers] and narrows the [Montauk] beach that brings the tourists who fuel the area’s economy…

“…The town is pursuing a plan to move downtown oceanfront businesses inland and let the abandoned grounds serve as the kind of natural dune that has always been the best barrier…

“Montauk is a lesson for all of Long Island. We can keep paying for short-term solutions doomed to failure, or make tough decisions that offer the best chance for long-term survival.”

The full article is available here.

The Problem with Beach Nourishment

December 13, 2018 Corky Bucek Leave a comment

Below excerpts are borrowed courtesy of a December 10th article and video published by Vox. The full article is available here.

About 80 to 90 percent of sandy beaches along America’s coastlines are eroding. This is a problem because the developments humans build near them are static. So as beaches shrink, coastal hazards can threaten to damage or destroy homes and businesses while negatively impacting tourism that depends on the beach.

The most popular strategy to counter these risks is a process called beach nourishment. Coastal engineers will add new sand to an eroding beach in order to rebuild or expand the shoreline.

But researchers discovered that coastal defense schemes like beach nourishment may ultimately do more harm than good by providing a false sense of security in critically eroding areas. There is evidence that beach nourishment can “mask or reduce the apparent impact of coastal hazards without changing the natural processes driving them.”

Visit the original article here.

Could Dredging Quogue’s Ocean Floor Harm Our Beachfront?

September 13, 2018 Corky Bucek Leave a comment

We are all stewards of our beach. All homeowners in Quogue consider our ocean beaches a precious natural resource, and all should have a say on any proposal that would alter our coastline.

The impact on Quogue’s oceanfront will not only affect a specific area (an est.1.3 miles of Quogue beach) as is proposed, but our entire 2.7 miles of oceanfront and our community as a whole. Continue reading Could Dredging Quogue’s Ocean Floor Harm Our Beachfront? →