Help is coming for a Jersey Shore town that’s losing the man-vs-nature battle on its eroded beaches
NORTH WILDWOOD, NJ — A long-running sandstorm at the Jersey Shore could soon come to an end as New Jersey implements an emergency beach replenishment project on one of the state’s most heavily eroded beaches.
North Wildwood and the state have been fighting in court for years over measures the city has taken on its own to hold back the advancing seas, while waiting — in vain — for the same kinds of nourishment projects as virtually all of the rest of Jersey. Coast has received.
It could be another two years before the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection begin pumping sand onto North Wildwood’s severely eroded shores. In January, parts of the dunes only reached Mayor Patrick Rosenello’s ankles.
But the mayor released a joint statement late Thursday night from the city and Gov. Phil Murphy saying both parties have agreed to an emergency project to pump sand onshore in the meantime to provide North Wildwood with protection from storm surges and flooding.
“The erosion in North Wildwood is shocking,” Murphy said Friday. “We couldn’t leave that alone. This is something that has been an unresolved issue for far too long.”
Rosenello — a Republican who last summer hung signs at the entrance to North Wildwood beaches with Murphy’s photo on them, telling residents that the Democratic governor was to blame for the beach’s lack of sand — credited Murphy’s leadership in resolving the impasse. He also cited the advocacy of elected officials from both parties, including former Senate President Steve Sweeney, a Democrat, and Republican Sen. Michael Testa, who helped broker a deal.
“This is a good thing for North Wildwood and a good thing for the entire Jersey Shore,” Rosenello said.
The work will be carried out by the Ministry of Transport, but cost estimates were not available on Friday. Rosenello said he expects the city will have to contribute to the costs.
The agreement could end more than a decade of legal and political wrangling over erosion in North Wildwood, a popular vacation destination for Philadelphians.
New Jersey has fined the city $12 million for unauthorized beach repairs that it says could worsen erosion, while the city is suing to recoup the $30 million it has spent over a decade transporting sand to the site in the absence of a replenishment program.
Rosenello said he hopes the agreement can lead to both sides dismissing their extensive legal actions against each other. But he added that more work needs to be done before that can happen. Murphy declined to comment on the possibility of terminating the lawsuit.
North Wildwood has asked the state for emergency permission to build a steel bulkhead along the most heavily eroded part of the beach — something previously done at two other spots.
But the state Department of Environmental Protection tends to oppose bulkheads as a long-term solution, noting that the hard structures often encourage sand scouring, which can accelerate and worsen erosion.
The agency favors the kind of beach nourishment projects that have been carried out for decades by the US Army Corps of Engineers, which pump vast amounts of sand from the coast onto eroded beaches, widening them and creating sand dunes to protect the terrain behind them.
Nearly all of New Jersey’s 125 miles of coastline has received such projects. But in North Wildwood, regulatory approvals and easements from private landowners have so far prevented that from happening.
That is the type of project that will start in the coming weeks, albeit temporarily. It could be completed by July 4, Rosenello said.
“Hopefully by the Fourth of July holiday, North Wildwood will have big, healthy beaches and lots of happy beachgoers,” he said.
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