State's Failure To Include Island Beach State Park In Dune Project 'Defies Logic,' Mayor Says

by Patricia A. Miller

The state Department of Environmental Protection will review Berkeley Township's request to have Island Beach State Park's dunes included in the Army Corps of Engineers' dune project, Mayor Carmen F. Amato Jr. said.

The mayor said he recently received a call from state Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Bob Martin to discuss the Township Council's two resolutions and the township Waterways Advisory Commission report.

Martin told Amato he has commissioned a study through Stockton State College to review the data and advise the township within the next 60 to 90 days, the mayor said on the township website at http://www.twp.berkeley.nj.us/index.aspx.

"This is encouraging news," the mayor said. "We look forward to meeting with Commissioner Martin and review their findings in the months to come."

Township officials have long contended that the park breaches during Superstorm Sandy caused much of the devastation in the Glen Cove, Good Luck Point, Pelican Island, South Seaside Park and Toms River Shores section of the township.

"The failure of the Corps to include the park seems to defy logic, considering it was the only breach our municipality experienced at the beachfront areas..." Amato said in the statement on the website.

Township Council members previously adopted two resolutions asking that the park be included in the dune replenishment project.

"Some sections in South Seaside Park, Berkeley Shores and Sandpiper Beach also sustained major damage as well," Amato said. "In all, our community lost nearly $50 million in ratables."

The Army Corps’ project - the shore protection and replenishment project - seeks to fortify dunes in target areas along the peninsula.

"Island Beach State Park does not have the dune system identified along the project length," Amato said.

The township Waterways Advisory Commission report holds the four breaches in the dunes at Island Beach accountable for the damage in the waterfront sections of Berkeley.

"During Superstorm Sandy Berkeley Township was subjected to storm surge levels in Barnegat Bay that were over 3 feet higher than the previous highest record level of all time," Commission Chairman William McGrath wrote in the report.

"We attribute this to the various breaches in the Island Beach Starte Park dune system that allowed the Atlantic Ocean to invade Barnegat Bay with a fury never before witnessed," the report states.