By Dan Israeli
A sense of urgency swirls around the proposed project, because the waterway has grown dangerously shallow and choked with sand, posing a threat to incoming boats, according to local legislators and residents. The situation is worsened by the fact that much of the sand blows east off Point Lookout beaches, leaving the area more vulnerable to storm damage.
The legislation, which has been passed by the state Senate, was making its way through the Assembly as the session came to a close on Thursday. If the bill was not passed by the Assembly, the project, considered long overdue by man Point Lookout residents, will have to wait until next year.
Authored by State Sen. Dean Skelos (R-Rockville Centre) and Assemblyman Harvey Weisenberg (D-Long Beach), the legislation would direct the state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) to spend $7.6 million to dredge the inlet, removing 700,000 cubic yards of sand and depositing it on the beach in Point Lookout.
At a press conference last Saturday at Civic Beach, with the waters of the inlet flowing calmly in the background, Skelos and Weisenberg, accompanied by Hempstead Town Supervisor Kate Murray, spoke in support of the bill.
"This is an issue that is near and dear to all of us, and we are now at a critical juncture," Murray said to an audience clad mostly in beach attire. "We need to send the message loud and clear that the South Shore of Long Island is not going to take this lying down."
Debate over the project over the past year has focused mostly on funding. Last June, Skelos and Weisenberg secured $7.6 million in state funding after Congress failed to provide any federal money for the project. In addition, Skelos and Weisenberg reached an agreement by which the Town of Hempstead would indemnify the Army Corps of Engineers for any liability.
While the plan received a vote of approval from the offices of the state attorney general and comptroller, however, DEC Commissioner Pete Grannis "pulled the plug" on the project last month, according to Skelos. The newly appointed commissioner expressed concern about setting a precedent he didn't want to follow: using state money for projects that are usually funded by the federal government.
"We are here today to tell Commissioner Grannis that he is wrong," said Skelos to applause from the Civic Beach crowd. "Each day we waste on this project gets us another year of delay. We can't afford to do that." Skelos, who shepherded the bill through the Senate, urged Gov. Eliot Spitzer to provide funding for such a project when the federal government fails to do so.
Weisenberg described the Legislature's closing session as the last window of opportunity to get the project started this year. If the bill is passed, the dredging would begin in October. (The Endangered Species Act prevents such projects from being undertaken in the summer months. )
"This is way past politics at this point," Weisenberg said. "This is a matter of life, health and safety and we need to have action. We have a natural disaster that's going to impact the people of this community. This is a very vulnerable situation." As of Tuesday, Weisenberg said, the bill had made its way through the Assembly's Health and Safety and Ways and Means committees, but still needed the approval of the Rules Committee to pass.
Three boaters have died in the inlet in the past four years in accidents attributed to the shallow water, and last October, a gambling bout ran aground, causing serious damage and injuring one passenger.
The erosion of Point Lookout beaches is of grave concern to residents, as it makes the hamlet vulnerable to storm damage. In September of 2005, tidal water rolled onto Ocean Boulevard, according to Murray. "We can't afford another year of storms pounding our shoreline, threatening boaters and homeowners alike," she said. "The governor and DEC need to stop playing games with people's lives."
Herbert Abbe, president of the Point Lookout Civic Association, has been an advocate of the dredging project for more than a decade. For Abbe, the waiting game has reached a point that is beyond frustration. "It hasn't been done, and the blame ultimately rests with the powers that be," he said. "Frustration isn't even the word, it's negligence. It's only a matter of time before someone gets hurt, and I hope to hell I'm wrong."
Gerry Ottavino, head of the civic association's environmental committee, said that the three local officials who have pushed the project have been "war horses" throughout the process. Ottavino added that while the dredging was crucial and urgent, it is only a first step in assuring the protection of Point Lookout residents. "The next step is to engineer the beaches so that something like this doesn't happen again," he said.
With the window of opportunity closing, Weisenberg was hopeful that the bill will pass the Assembly, so readily available state funds could be put to good use. "The life and safety of the 48,000 people on Long Beach barrier island is my top priority," Weisenberg said. "I will continue to do everything in my power to get this project done."
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