Recent Nor’easter renews debate over beach replenishment

New Jersey is still assessing the damage from last week’s Nor’easter. The state may seek an emergency declaration from the President that would unlock money for beach restoration funds.

New Jersey is still assessing the damage from last week’s Nor’easter. The state may seek an emergency declaration from the President that would unlock money for beach restoration funds.

But there is disagreement over the value of these programs.

Steward Farrell, director of the Coastal Research Center at Richard Stockton College says the beach replenishment projects are worth the expense.

Farrell: It’s extremely important if we want to continue living right at the oceanfront and deriving the income and benefits from the fact that people come to the shore to spend time, recreate, and enjoy it.

But Tim Dillingham, executive director of the American Littoral Society, says it’s time to reconsider beach replenishment.

Dillingham: The sand very rarely stays on the beach after the storms and requires investment of millions of dollars of public monies every couple years to make sure that the houses will remain protected.

Dillingham says a better long term solution would be for the government to buy those beach front homes, move them back from the coast, and restore wetlands which serve as buffers against storms.