Environmentalists question Prime Hook dune repair

A watchdog environmental group says state environmental officials did work without proper permitting to repair a breach in the dunes at Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge. The group also says state crews performed beach scraping to obtain sand, the same process state officials refused to allow a nearby homeowners association to use

Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) contends nature should be allowed to run its course and the new inlet, opened by a series of nor’easters over the past two years, should not be closed. The group wants an investigation of the issue.

State officials deny PEER’s accusations. Tony Pratt, state shoreline and waterway administrator, said Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) crews were working under the auspices of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which had permits dating back to 2008. He said the permits don’t expire until 2011.

Pratt said the crews did not perform beach scraping, for which DNREC had earlier denied permits. Instead, they moved sand from the upland side of the beach using it to build up dunes destroyed by a series of nor’easters.

“They don’t have their facts straight,” Pratt said. “This is an emergency situation pushing sand to seal off an active inlet.”

But the work was stopped after one day because of an oversight, said refuge Manager Michael Stroeh. An environmental assessment, required to perform any work on federal lands, was not completed. Stroeh said the assessment is under way and should be ready for public view in a few months, and work could then continue.

The nearly 4,000 feet of beach needing repair includes 700 feet of federal lands and approximately 3,200 feet of private lands, some of which is owned by retiring Rep. George Carey, R-Milford.

The work started May 3 and was halted May 4.

“We are dumbfounded that the state agency which is supposed to protect natural resources is behind the bulldozers,” said PEER Executive Director Jeff Ruch. “DNREC cannot hold back the sands of change that are transforming Delaware’s beaches and dunes.”

Work stalled to complete plans

Sand has been cleared from the parking lot at the end of Fowler Beach Road and some sand has been piled up near the parking lot, but water continues to flow from the Delaware Bay into the freshwater impoundment north of the road.

Stroeh said the plan is to completely fill the hole created by the breach, plug the inlet and stop the flow of water, which would be a temporary fix at best. Stroeh said the draft of a comprehensive refuge management plan has been written to address the larger-picture issues affecting the refuge such as sea-level rise and saltwater intrusion. It could be ready for public input as early as July.

“Everyone assumes this area would turn to a saltwater marsh, but that might not be the case,” Stroeh said, adding the area could be overcome by the bay and become open water. That does not fit into the current management plan of retaining as much marsh as possible, he said.

Stroeh said the type of marsh – freshwater or saltwater – remains open to debate. “The question is if the area is returning to open water how do we restore it?” he asked. “We want to set the clock back to where we were before the most recent storms.”

While the environmental assessment and comprehensive plan are being completed, Stroeh said it was important to slow down the restoration process. “We know we are going to have problems down the road, and we are just starting to address them,” he said.

Closing the breach would also help alleviate some flooding problems in the area, Pratt said.

Pratt said the state’s part of the project is to close the breach, which requires working on some private land. It’s more important to stop flooding on Fowler Beach Road, regardless of who owns the land, Pratt said. “DelDOT has been pleading with us to do this because of the constant flooding on the road,” Pratt said. “The fact that it’s George Carey’s land is a coincidence.”

PEER wants investigation

Several breaches in the dunes, caused by the storms, have created inlets in the northern area of the park around Fowler Beach. One of the main breaches, just south of Fowler Beach Road, is allowing saltwater to flow into a freshwater impoundment.

PEER claims the work in early May was done without public notice and permits. The group also claims the work violates a series of federal and state laws including the Clean Water Act, Subaqueous Lands Act, Beach Preservation Act and National Historic Preservation Act.

PEER is requesting investigations by DNREC Secretary Collin O’Mara as well as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The Corps is investigating to determine if the work complied with existing permits.

In January, DNREC denied a permit to the Prime Hook Beach Organization Inc. for sand scraping to rebuild dunes to protect their properties after a series of storms had eroded them. In an 18-page report, DNREC staff commented that the removal of the sand from the beachfront would adversely affect the offshore sand bars, which are an important protection to the area during storms.

This is the same area where a year ago, DelDOT workers engaged in ditching, draining and building culverts on Fowler Beach Road without the proper permits. They were required to fill in the ditches and restore any damage to nearby wetlands.

“Lightning does not strike twice in the same place unless there is an outside reason,” Ruch said. “Whatever mistakes DNREC has made, we hope that they were not driven by pork-barrel politics.”

PEER says the area where the work was taking place was under an active osprey nest and was done during peak horseshoe crab spawning season with hundreds of crabs in the area.

PEER maintains the breaches are actually natural inlets, which act as safety valves for the beach ecosystem to adjust to sea-level rise, storm dynamics and other conditions, for the benefit of the entire beach island, back barrier marshes and all the wetland-dependant wildlife species.

Money being used for the project comes from the state’s Beach Preservation Fund. Pratt did not have the total cost of the project, but he said it would save money in the long run because DelDOT would not need to make as many repairs to Fowler Beach Road.