Is the cost of OC, Del., beach replenishment worth it?
High tides flooded streets and homes, waves crashed over the sea wall, the Ocean City pier was destroyed and yet, despite this, Ocean City still stood.
As Superstorm Sandy was bearing down on the Maryland and Delaware beaches, Ocean City Mayor Rick Meehan thought back to Hurricane Gloria, which hit the area in 1985.
Gloria caused a lot of damage to Ocean City, Meehan said, but during Superstorm Sandy, Ocean City has something it did not have back then: "beach nourishment."
These storms changed the very layout of the beach — leveling dunes and removing sand, which Sen. Jim Mathias called "the first line of defense to protect lives."
"Every time we have these events, beach replenishment has saved the town of Ocean City $100 million each time while avoiding the loss and damage to property," said Mathias, a former Ocean City mayor.
Beach replenishment – a process of pumping sand up from the ocean floor and back under the feet of tourists and locals – might protect the beach, but it can be pricey.
The process can cost millions of dollars, making some people wonder if the process is worth it due to beach nourishment’s temporary status, says John Doerfler, chairman of Delaware's chapter of the Surfrider Foundation.
Beach nourishment has cost area beaches millions of dollars, and local environmental groups decry that it is only a temporary fix.
The practice is common among beaches and every beach along the Atlantic Ocean has undergone some sort of beach nourishment, says University of Pennsylvania professor Samantha Muka, who specializes in ocean studies.
Local civic leaders point out the process has saved the areas millions of dollars and any beach nourishment project is worth it in order to protect property and human lives inland.
In terms of what is best for Ocean City and Delaware, Muka said there is no right or wrong answer.
“It is a highly local answer depending on what they want their beach to do,” she said.
Building up the beach
Beach nourishment began as a way to extend beach to create more distance from the ocean to the community. But there's more to it than just having extra space for beach chairs.
New beach regeneration projects have focused on both the berm, which is the distance between the ocean and the mainland, as well as building up dunes to protect towns. The dunes protect the community and the berm protects the dunes, said Ed Voigt, a member of the Army Corps of Engineers public relations.
READ MORE: Beach replenishment schedule in Ocean City sparks concern
“Instead of a traditional man-made structure such as a sea wall or a jetty," Voigt said, "you are shaping sand in a way that is like nature to provide a buffer between the ocean and the community to reduce storm risk.”
Voigt said there are several types of damage to beaches, such as erosion caused by hurricanes, high winds and rains.
Mathias said the increase in beach nourishment projects is a reason why so many buildings were built during his time as mayor of Ocean City.
Meehan agrees with Matthias and said Ocean City is the poster child for the way beach nourishment projects should be done.
"It's made all the difference in the world if you look at the cost of the project compared to the property damage it has prevented over its lifetime," he said. "It's a very valuable asset to the Town of Ocean City."
The protection provided by beach nourishment is best seen during storms such as nor’easters as well as named hurricanes, which can come up the coast which impacts Delaware coastline as well as Ocean City.
“Essentially, we focus on the entire length of the town from 4th Street until the Delaware line because the inlet keeps the beach stable for those 10 blocks but the remaining nine miles the entire beach gets replenished,” said Ocean City town engineer Terry McGean.
McGean compared beach nourishment to ensuring buildings in California are built to withstand earthquakes, calling the practice the prudent and correct approach to protect property.
“Ocean City has been around for a long time and lots of other methods of erosion control have been tried and beach nourishment has been the most successful,” McGean said.
How much money is too much?
Despite the benefits of beach nourishment, there are many individuals who oppose the practice. Doerfler is one of them, and he says his complaint has nothing to do with surfing. His argument is based on using tax revenue to benefit all, not just those with beach front property.
“It’s nothing more than a way for (Federal Emergency Management Agency) to subsidize flood insurance,” he said.
READ MORE: Bethany residents updated on beach replenishment efforts
Since 2005, beach nourishment projects in Rehoboth Beach, Dewey Beach, Bethany Beach, South Bethany Beach and Fenwick Island have cost $101.4 million, according to information provided by the Army Corps of Engineers. As of 2013, Ocean City had spent $83.8 million on the process of beach nourishment.
The money used on beach nourishment in Ocean City is only used on Ocean City; Assateague Island does not receive any beach nourishment.
Voigt said beach nourishment is misunderstood.
“The first myth we have to debunk is that these projects are a complete failure,” he said. “But that’s exactly what they’re supposed to do.”
Some of the sand needs to be pumped back in after a big storm, Voigt said, adding beach nourishment is a sacrificial system, which is one of the reasons it is used so often because one beach gains sand and one beach loses sand like with a jetty.
Voigt said there are also economic benefits to beach nourishment.
The deeper the beach is, the more room there is for people to use the beach, he said.
“But our primary concern is minimizing the damage from storms,” he said.
McGean said that beach nourishment has allowed Ocean City to grow economically and for every $64 million put in by the federal government to nourish the beaches, the federal government receives $100 million from the town in taxes.
In Delaware, the argument slightly differs.
Michael Globetti, a spokesperson for the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, said most of the pushback to beach nourishment stems from issues concerning where the money is coming from to fund the projects, and concerns over the quality of the sand and the conditions of the beaches.
Globetti said the department did not have any data that shows how much money has been saved because of beach nourishment, however, he was sure of its benefits to the area.
“In the communities along the Delaware Bay and the Atlantic Ocean where ongoing maintained beach nourishment and dune preservation efforts have been maintained, storm damages to buildings and infrastructure have been significantly reduced from the damages that were experienced in those locations prior to nourishment,” Globetti said.
In Ocean City, the numbers are very real with damage prevention.
McGean said that the estimated damages prevented by beach nourishment total $956 million in Ocean City.
READ MORE: With approved Bethany budget, storm relief fund started
Matthias said due to the large crowds that visit both Ocean City and Assateague, roughly 8 million people, the beach nourishment projects are worth it.
"Through the federal income tax, state income tax, sales tax and gas tax, we eclipse the amount put into protect the beaches," Mathias said.
Beach nourishment in Ocean City is 25 years into the 50-year process and Mathias said he hopes future officials push to protect the beaches.
“I want to make sure the next 25 years go as well as the first 25 years went,” he said. “I also want to make sure we are able to renew the project.”
Environmental concerns
Doerfler said the process of beach nourishment is only putting a bandage on the issue and is concerned about the environmental impact.
“No politician wants to tell his or her constituents this,” he said. “It’s frightening and unrealistic. Through the embankments that are being created, they are only down to one state recognized surfing spot (in Delaware)."
Voigt said most of the damage to the beaches is from nor’easters instead of hurricanes.
READ MORE: Surfers say beach rebuilding has ruined best waves
“When they go back and re-nourish, they focus on the berm part,” he said. “It is just using a dredge to suck up sand and putting it back on the beach through a pipeline and using equipment to move the sand into place.”
Muka, the professor, pointed out Florida as an example as an area that has a different situation that Ocean City.
“In Florida, you have to worry about sea turtles,” she said. “The beach nourishment in Ocean City and Delaware does not seem to have an impact on horseshoe crabs living on the beach.”
A look to the future
Despite the effectiveness of beach nourishment over the years, Muka said other options are being explored, especially in the post-Superstorm Sandy era.
“A more permanent solution would be a greenspace, to extend the swampy areas,” she said. “Right now, that would be very different than what we see and would mean a big change in what we see in the economy and how we use it for leisure. It would mean giving up a beach area for coastal security and I don’t see that happening.”
Despite the perceived success or lack there of regarding beach nourishment, groups are continuing to ensure the projects go on while others are trying to ensure their voice is heard.
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“The project designers are continuously making efforts to refine and improve the projects,” Globetti said. “There is a constant search for the best available sand sources. DNREC is involved in ongoing research with academic institutions such as the University of Delaware on evaluation of the projects. Regular meetings have been held with interest groups such as the Surfrider Foundation to discuss their concerns and with the communities in which the projects are located.”
Doerfler said he wants environmental and other recreation groups to have a larger seat at the table when it comes to discussions on beach nourishment.
“If you have a recreation voice at the table, they can tell that a healthy beach is a surfable beach and a beach safe for recreation.”
But, until these groups have a voice at the table, Doerfler will continue to be concerned.
“They are only doing this to pay out an insurance premium,” he said.
Muka said to ensure better beach nourishment projects, she would like to see a greater collaboration between scientists and local people.
“The engineers know a lot but they can’t know everything,” she said. “It takes a lot of biologists and physicists to talk about the impact of erosion and a chemist to talk about the chemistry of this but a lot of places do not have the money to do this type of research.”
rghughes@dmg.gannett.com
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