For Immediate Release
Media Contact: Taylor.McFarland@sierraclub.org
The Sierra Club New Jersey Chapter joins Surfrider Foundation at a Press Conference in Deal, NJ highlighting the environmental and economic failures of beach replenishment. Over 20 groups, including the Sierra Club NJ Chapter have signed a statement opposing S1071(Kean)/ A639(Mazzeo) legislation that would double the amount of money going into the Shore Protection Fund. This bill does not take a holistic and regional approach to deal with climate change and storm surges. Instead it funds failed beach replenishment projects that pump sand on beaches.
“As we continue to see the increasing severity of climate impacts along the Jersey Shore, it is critical that we take a holistic and regional approach to deal with those impacts. Beach replenishment, however, is not the ultimate solution for dealing with things like storm surges and sea level rise. It’s a temporary solution that provides false hope. We have watched countless failed beach replenishment projects pump millions of dollars of sand on our beaches that just wash away in the next storm. That is why it’s critical that our legislators look at an overall comprehensive and long term approach to deal with climate impacts along our shoreline,” said Taylor McFarland, Acting Director of the Sierra Club, New Jersey Chapter.
The Sierra Club, New Jersey chapter supports an amendment to A639(Mazzeo) where shoreline communities adopt an overall comprehensive approach to beach erosion and shoreline damage from storms, shoreline migration and sea-level rise. The chapter believes that beach replenishment projects in dollars must be matched with the removal of structures from the water’s edge, restoring natural features such as dunes, wetlands, coastal marshes,natural habitats, and stream buffers, and undertaking other shoreline restoration projects. In addition, shoreline municipalities receiving funding from this act must adopt ordinances that will preclude development in flood-prone areas.
“Not only does New Jersey need a long term solution to deal with sea level rise and storm surges, but we need to make sure public access to our beaches is protected. We are paying to replenish beaches but towns like Deal can restrict parking and public access on those beaches. Beaches are held in the Public Trust Doctrine and that means they belong to all of us to access and utilize. We deserve access to our beaches, especially if we are paying to protect them,” said Taylor McFarland, Acting Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club.