By Chris Munzing
"This is the worst thing that can possibly happen to the beach," Gibson said. "For the Army Corps to call this renourishment is very misleading."
Gibson said that since the Florida coastlines were ravaged by powerful hurricanes last fall, the USACE has been implementing projects similar to the one proposed for Long Beach. He said that the most serious problem is the quality of the sand being pumped onto the beach from the ocean floor, but he also criticized the way the USACE conducts its business. "None of their studies are peer-reviewed," he said. "And only 11 percent of their studies pass the basic criteria for accepted scientific studies."
"What they're putting on the beach isn't sand," Gibson added as he showed slides of some of Florida's beaches before and after the Army Corps completed its projects. "It's offshore mud. This stuff has been without sunlight for 5,000 to 7,000 years. And the Army Corps loves to talk about the size of the [grains of] sand. Yes, it is very close, but it's not the same quality."
The difference between the sand on the beach and the sand at the bottom of the ocean, Gibson said, is that beach sand is polished quartz that has been made smooth from constant sunlight and wave action. The sand on the ocean floor is sharp, angular and hollow. Gibson said that that sand is much lighter than the sand currently on the beach, and that Long Beach could see constant sand clouds when the wind picks up.
But a USACE spokesman said that Gibson's statements were misleading. "We stand by the studies we've conducted," said Anthony Ciora, former USACE project manager for Long Beach and current chief of the Civil Works Branch of the USACE's New York regional office. "The sand we've examined comes from about a mile off of Lido, and is very similar to what's on the beach now."
City Manager Charles Theofan said that he expected to have the USACE's final report within four weeks. "My understanding is that the revised project eliminates the proposed dunes, and puts a sand barrier underneath the boardwalk," he said. "The Army Corps will raise the berm, rebuild the jetties, and provide for the resurfacing of the boardwalk. And that is a plan I believe the City Council would be amenable to."
Council members and residents have been concerned about the USACE's inability to provide a sample of the sand from the dredging site more than a year after a request for one. Theofan, however, said that the council would never approve anything without a sample, and has made that known to the USACE.
The Surfrider Foundation handed out information packets from the Natural Resources Protective Association about how similar projects have caused more problems than they've solved, specifically in 1994 at Brooklyn's Coney Island. There, according to the information, public restrooms were buried in sand, the boardwalk began to rot and several areas of the beach were permanently closed to swimmers because of dangerous rip currents.
"This is not just about the surfers," said Long Beach Surfrider Environmental Committee Chairwoman Ericka Davanzo. "This is also a public safety issue."
"There are places where projects such as this are necessary," Gibson said, pointing specifically to the areas in Point Lookout where the beach is eroding. "But Long Beach is not one of them."
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