'Great News' For Storm-Ravaged Dune Road

HAMPTON BAYS, NY — After another breach over the weekend — one that led to a seal becoming trapped — good news could be on the way for storm-ravaged Dune Road in Hampton Bays.

According to Southampton Town Supervisor Jay Schneiderman, he spoke with the United States Army Corps of Engineers Monday morning; Suffolk County Legislator Bridget Fleming set up the call and participated, too, he said.

"ACE has gotten an emergency waiver to reduce their procurement process from 90 days down to 10 days. That is great news," Schneiderman said. "So now we are expecting the federal dredge to arrive by mid-to-late January. Suffolk County began work at 5:30 this morning on rebuilding the berm. Hopefully it will get us through the foul weather we are anticipating over the next few days."

In addition, Schneiderman said, Bill Hillman, chief engineer for Suffolk County, is developing a plan to prevent a breach until the federal dredge arrives.

"I am told that approval for the dredge project is likely but not absolutely certain," Schneiderman said. "We should know by Christmas — perfect timing for a yes."

Rep. Lee Zeldin weighed in after the call Monday morning with Tom Asbery, Commander of the New York District of the Army Corps of Engineers, regarding the most recent washover on Dune Island just west of Shinnecock Inlet.

“Colonel Asbery’s team submitted a project information report to its higher headquarters and is awaiting approval for the assistance request as the next step, which could come as early as this week," he said. "This is an urgent situation along Dune Road affecting our community’s small businesses and jobs. In an effort to move the project along as quickly as possible, the Army Corps has put out advanced notification for multiple bidders in preparation of accepting bids for what ultimately could be the placement of around 600,000 cubic yards of sand on the ocean side of Dune Road west of Shinnecock Inlet."

That course of action, he said, would restore the area to its 2005 authorization level, which would "be a better, more robust outcome than simply restoring this area to its recent 2019 pre-storm level. The Army Corps has even sped up the bid process to a 10-day procurement, which would significantly reduce the timeline for bidding, start of construction and, ultimately, getting sand on the beach," he said.

Zeldin added: "I am encouraged that the Army Corps is doing everything in its power within federal law to respond quickly and effectively to this urgent matter. In the meantime, this will continue to be a state and locally led effort until the Army Corps is legally permitted to intervene. I’m grateful to Col. Asbery and his team for their continued hard work and partnership all across New York’s 1st congressional sistrict.”

This weekend, it was a new storm, a new breach on plagued Dune Road — and this time, the flooding led to aseal that ended up trapped by the commercial dock in Hampton Bays.

According to Schneiderman, Saturday's inclement weather sparked new issues on storm-socked Dune Road. "There were more problems on Dune Road last night," he said Sunday.

The dune washed out by the commercial dock during Saturday night's high tide at 10 p.m.; a 30-foot wide section opened completely, the supervisor said. Early Sunday morning the highway department pushed the sand from the road back in line with the dune, creating a small berm sufficient to weather the morning's high tide, he said.

"Apparently a harbor seal had crossed through the opening last night and was trapped at the commercial dock when the berm was built, according to harbormaster Chris Fraser," Schneiderman said.

A marine mammal rescue came and rescued the seal, which appeared to be in good health, Schneiderman said.

"The area at the east end of Dune Road remains extremely vulnerable and we are watching the weather and tides very closely," he added. "The town lacks the resources to prevent a breach in this area and we are calling for assistance from county state and federal agencies."

In November, elected officials gathered on Dune Road to assess the ongoing need for help in an area that has seen nearly catastrophic flooding in recent months.

Zeldin, Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone, U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer, Hillman, and Schneiderman met on Dune Road for a site visit.

The visit followed multiple recent storms that caused severe damage to the dunes along the ocean side and led to severe flooding and a near breach of the barrier island just west of Shinnecock Inlet where many small businesses and jobs are located, including the second largest commercial dock in New York State, Zeldin said.

Local and state officials are now seeking federal assistance with the ongoing dredging; during the site visit, federal and county officials discussed available options regarding appropriate operation authority, funding and the availability of dredges and equipment, a release from Zeldin's office said.

Zeldin said he and and his office have been in "frequent contact" with the Army Corps regarding the county's reimbursement request for prior and ongoing work on Dune Road and has also been in touch with Weeks Marine, which has two dredges currently at Fire Island Pines, regarding the possibility of moving at least one of its vessels east to assist with the emergency project.

Last year, the Army Corps, operating under an emergency declaration, utilized $12 million in federal funding for an emergency dredge of Moriches Inlet, after storms caused severe shoaling and left the inlet unnavigable, Zeldin said. Next, the Army Corps undertook a three-mile dredge of the Long Island Intracoastal Waterway, he said.

Schneiderman has also reached out for help with the "critical condition" on Dune Road, flooding that he said could soon become a disaster if not addressed.

After four emergency declarations on battered Dune Road near the commercial fishing dock in Hamptons Bays, Schneiderman reached out to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation via a letter requesting rehabilitation assistance.

"I write to advise of a critical condition at the West of Shinnecock Inlet project that imminently threatens life, property and resources of the people of the Town of Southampton, Suffolk County and New York State and to seek additional state and federal assistance to avoid a disaster," Schneiderman said. "Although I understand that the State of New York has already approached the US Army Corps of Engineers for ... assistance and that such assistance is 'in the pipeline', I fear without added impetus that help will come too late."

Storms beginning on Oct. 10 have repeatedly over washed Dune Road and are actively flooding portions of the commercial fish dock, local marinas and restaurants as well as eliminating access to public lands, Schneiderman said.

"To date the Town of Southampton, Suffolk County Department of Public Works and New York State Department of Transportation have been undertaking emergency measures to shore up the dunes and prevent over washes that threatened to breach the barrier island and destroy the commercial fishing dock, private marinas, and restaurants and smother productive wetlands," he wrote.

Over the last several weeks, town, county and state crews have moved more than 5,000 cubic yards of sand to prevent over washing and breaching; together the town and county have spent more than $400,000 in the last three weeks, the supervisor said.

"Unfortunately, these efforts have been unsuccessful in stopping major ocean waves and tides from washing over Dune Road," he wrote. "The locally sourced sand supplies have almost been exhausted and the town and county crews are being forced to scrape sand off the road to push back in the small berm holding back the Atlantic Ocean."

Suffolk County, he added, has advanced a scheduled dredging of a nearby navigation channel for an additional 90,000 cubic yards of sand to try and stabilize the "imminent flooding and erosion catastrophe. Unfortunately, almost all of 20,000 cubic yards of the nearly 45,000 cubic yards placed to date were washed away in two days."

Absent a major beach restoration effort as designed by the US Army Corps of Engineers in the WOSI project, "this area will be the latest breach in the barrier island, threatening lives, destroying natural resources and severing critical infrastructure," the supervisor said.
While there are several ocean-going dredges in the area under federal contract and the necessary Water Quality Certificate for using the WOSI borrow site is also current, there is no regulatory impediment in the way of undertaking the needed remedial efforts, Schneiderman said, adding, "What is needed now is assistance at the highest level of government to prevent a disaster. .. There are no regulatory hurdles to overcome, merely the will to move quickly and avoid a looming disaster."

Also in November after the fourth state of emergency in a month, a breach was stayed and Dune Road was once again open to the public.

Schneiderman reported that the dune "was all put back together," with Suffolk County dredging and building sand up in the impacted area of Dune Road near the commercial fishing dock in Hampton Bays.

But the relief is just a stopgap measure, the supervisor said. "It's getting more and more dire. If there's another storm it's going to be very difficult to stop a breach in that area."

After the most recent storm, the Southampton Town Highway Department "really stepped up," Schneiderman said, moving a couple of hundred years of sand into place and later, scooping the sand off the street to help fortify the berm. The crew cleaned up after the high tide as the county continued to pump sand onto the beach and commence with its dredging operation.

"This has been a team effort; everyone is really working well together," Schneiderman said. "But this is beyond the capabilities of the town. We need county, state and federal help here. We're doing the best we can with the resources we have available, but piling up lose sand against a tide is not a long-term solution. We prevented a breach — but we can't keep doing this."

Instead, he said, a federal dredge — the sand is already identified off shore and the operation is permitted, Schneiderman said — is critical, "to pump hundreds of thousands of yards of sand onto that beach. That's the only real answer. We're just biding time. I don't know how much longer we'll be able to do this."

Fleming agreed. Surveying Dune Road, she said relieved property owners had come to check on their boats. "The breach has been stayed again but we need help from our federal partners," she said..

In October, a storm sparked major flooding on Dune Road, prompting the first local state of emergency declared.

"The sand barrier is thin and will not withstand a minor storm," the supervisor said. "We need federal help with this from the United States Army Corp of Engineers