Point Pleasant Beach Mayor Fires Back At Sierra Club Over Seawall

POINT PLEASANT BEACH – Mayor Steve Reid fired back at environmentalists who criticized Jenkinson’s for its construction of a steel seawall, saying the project will be much more effective than the alternative.

Reid said the town has tried to use dunes by themselves before to protect against sea-level rise. During Superstorm Sandy, however, 3 to 5 feet of sand ended up on Ocean Avenue, he said.

"The Sierra Club knows nothing about Point Pleasant Beach," he said. "They probably haven't even been here."

Reid was responding to Jeff Tittel, director of the New Jersey Sierra Club, who said this week that the seawall is giving people "false hope."

"This wall will be overtopped and undermined with the first storm, just like the wall in Mantoloking," he said. "Not only will it not work, it will actually make things worse. When waves hit the steel wall, the energy from the waves vibrates the steel which causes beach erosion.”

Tittel said sea walls and other similar programs have failed in the past. "Instead, Jenkinson Pavilion should be restoring dunes and natural systems to protect the coast from storms and sea-level rise," he said. "Unlike steel, dunes can absorb the energy from the waves. Otherwise, all of this work will get destroyed in the next storm.”

Reid, however, said the biggest problem with dunes is this: "Sand moves."

Reid also said the wall will be protected by wood and boulders, and with dunes, "You can't see the ocean."

Then there's the cost, he said. After Superstorm Sandy, "it cost a lot of money to move that sand back on the beach," he said.

The seawall is part of a settlement with Point Pleasant Beach, the state Department of Environmental Protection and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The lawsuit was settled in July, and requires Jenkinson's to build a steel seawall as part of the beach replenishment in that area.

The settlement in July ended a 2-year-long legal battle between Jenkinson’s Pavilion and state and federal authorities. Jenkinson’s did not want to be responsible for any barrier, but eventually agreed to construct a steel sheet pile bulkhead 18 feet above sea-level at its own expense. Reid said the business is contributing $7 million toward the project.

In 2014, Jenkinson’s sued to stop a federal project from installing 22-foot-high dunes and widening the beach between the Manasquan and Barnegat inlets to prevent coastal flooding during hurricanes.