PI beach erosion continues to worry officials

By Victor Tine
Staff writer

PLUM ISLAND — The t= own continued to stockpile sand yesterday at Plum Island Center in anticipat= ion of using it on the adjacent beach to slow the pace of coastal erosion.

Meanwhile, a few yards away at Plum Island Taxpayers and Associates Hall, a large group of federal, state and local officials contin= ued to search yesterday morning for a solution to both the immediate and long-t= erm effects of that erosion.

The sand was transported to the Center from nearby Olga Way, a= dumping area for sand excavated in the recent installation of water and sewer servi= ces on the island. By the end of the day yesterday, the sa= ndpile covered nearly all of the parking lot to a height that appeared to be more = than 10 feet.

After a site visit yesterday morning, town officials and representatives of the state Department of Environmental Protection said th= ey would work cooperatively to resolve the erosion problem at the Center and a= bout 600 feet northward. The two parties have sometimes clashed in the past.

Newbury Conservation Agent Douglas Packer described the si= te visit as "very encouraging."

DEP regional director Richard Chalpin= said afterward that the town would be able to deploy the sand onto the beac= h if needed.

Erosion from even routine tidal action has eaten away the = Center so that what remains of the dune is only a foot or two from the rear wall of the building housing the former Jeannie's restaurant. Beyond the dune is a sharp drop to the beach below.

Officials fear any storm, as well as higher-than normal ti= des in early May, could make the problem worse.

Newbury police Chief Michael R= eilly has been designated as the incident commander in case of an emergency, such= as a breach at or near the Center. Reilly will coordinate operations and communications among federal state and local authorities, selectmen Chairman Vincent Russo said.

Later yesterday afternoon, several of the PITA Hall meeting participants reconvened in a 45-minute conference call, moderated by Washington lobby= ist Howard Marlowe, with three coastal geologists to talk about possible erosion control measures.

The consensus among the geologists seemed to be that the b= est short-term solution is something called a geotube. The 12-foot diameter geotube is filled with san= d, anchored to the beach and buried in more sand. While they require monitoring and repair, one geologist said the heavy-duty fabric tubes have been in use= in locations at the Galveston, Texas, coast since 1999.

The cost for a geotube that wo= uld meet the needs of Plum Island was estimate= d at $150,000 to $240,000, not including the cost of the sand to fill it.

At the morning meeting, one of a series organized by PITA President Ron Barrett and state Sen. Bruce Tarr= since January, officials also discussed a proposal to deposit sand dredged from t= he Merrimack River channel onto the beach at Plum Island. Marlowe, the lobbyist, is working on that project on behalf of Newbury.

Last December, Congressman John Tierney was able to secure $654,000 toward the dredging operation's cost of $1.4 million — but f= or near-shore, not onshore deposit of the sand. The Army Corps of Engineers, w= hich would supervise the project, has estimated that the additional cost of depo= siting the dredged sand directly on shore would be $800,000.

While federal funds would be used for = all the dredging and near-shore sand placement, the maximum federal share of the onshore operation would be 65 percent.

But Tarr, with the tacit agree= ment of state Sen. Steven Baddour and Reps. Michael Cos= tello and Harriett Stanley, said the legislators would try to get the onshore placement money from Beacon Hill if for = some reason the federal share was unavailable.

He said the permits for the dredging have been obtained, a= major hurdle out of the way, so money remains the only obstacle.

Edward O'Donnell, navigational services chief for the New England District of the Army Corps of Engineers, said his agency had receiv= ed $100,000 to study the uses of the dredged material, a study Costello said would answer the question of whether it was practical to bring the near-shore sand onshore.

O'Donnell told the gathering that the earliest the channel dredging could begin is July 2009. The actual work, he said, would take only three or four weeks.

While both Newburyport Mayor John Moa= k and Newbury's Russo both voiced urgent concerns about shoring up the beach = as soon as possible, Tarr said the process was mov= ing forward.

"We shouldn't lose sight of the progress we're making," Tarr said as the meeting came to a close. "We need a long-term solution, and we're working toward a long-= term solution."