Weeks have passed since several Jersey Shore towns alerted state officials to their eroded beaches, declaring states of emergency after heavy sand loss caused by three storms.<\/p>\n
The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection says it\u2019s ready to fund scheduled beach renourishment projects in 2026 but warns that emergency work isn\u2019t possible without federal dollars, and those funds aren\u2019t yet secured.<\/p>\n
With costs topping $73 million for recent projects, the state is offering technical support for any self-funded interim fixes while lobbying Congress for long-term support.<\/p>\n
Ocean City and Upper Township said their beaches suffered the most damage from Hurricane Erin in August, followed by two October storms \u2014 a nor\u2019easter and a strong coastal storm. <\/p>\n
The weather created storm surges that swamped much of their coastline.<\/p>\n
Both Ocean City and Upper Township were expected to have their beaches replenished through a federally backed fill in 2026. <\/p>\n
However, financial assurances from President Donald Trump\u2019s administration have yet to be made, according to a letter from the DEP.<\/p>\n
New Jersey performs beach restoration with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which, as of July, had not been given allocations for nourishment next year. <\/p>\n
This year, at least three projects, including one that would have restored some of Ocean City\u2019s beaches, were not funded.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has a long history of working closely with the state of New Jersey on coastal projects that reduce the risk of storm damage to infrastructure,\u201d the agency\u2019s Philadelphia District said in an email to NJ Advance Media. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe cannot speculate on what might be included in fiscal year 2026 appropriations for coastal projects,\u201d the statement said.<\/p>\n
Beaches in Ocean City and Strathmere, Upper Township\u2019s waterfront community, are due for replenishment in 2026, likely ahead of the busiest months for summer travel, DEP Commissioner Shawn LaTourette said in a letter to both towns. <\/p>\n
Through both projects, beaches in all of Ocean City, Strathmere and Sea Isle City would be resupplied with ample amounts of sand, LaTourette said.<\/p>\n
However, funding for those projects has not been confirmed by Trump officials, he said. New Jersey cannot support an interim beach fill project alone, he added.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn short, given the scale and cost of shore protection needs throughout New Jersey, our shore protection program is heavily reliant upon consistent federal funding and partnership and does not enable DEP interim beach nourishment outside the established cost-share paradigm and periodic nourishment cycles,\u201d LaTourette said.<\/p>\n
Under Gov. Phil Murphy\u2019s administration, New Jersey annually allocates $50 million toward its Shore Protection Fund. <\/p>\n
That money is used to match funding provided by the Army Corps. Typically, the federal government bears 65% of a project\u2019s cost, while New Jersey matches 35% using the fund.<\/p>\n
Last month\u2019s nor\u2019easter eroded more sand at Strathmere\u2019s beachfront. The heaviest losses are in the community\u2019s first three blocks, which have become the site of steep sand cliffs. <\/p>\n
Weeks later, Strathmere\u2019s beaches lost more sand, but its dunes were spared from more damage, township officials previously said.<\/p>\n
The township does not have enough sand for backpassing \u2014 a process in which sand is taken from fuller beaches to replenish depleted ones, Mayor Curtis Corson said. <\/p>\n
Township officials are turning to lobbyists in Washington to prod the federal government for help, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re very vulnerable right now,\u201d Corson said in a phone call with NJ Advance Media on Friday. \u201cOn the positive note, the state has the funding to help.\u201d<\/p>\n
Across the Corson\u2019s Inlet Bridge, Ocean City declared a state of emergency after significant sand loss between 1st and 13th streets. <\/p>\n
Mayor Jay Gillian said the declaration is a \u201ctool\u201d for officials to demand that higher governments help. Ocean City recently backpassed sand to the neediest areas of the beach, officials said.<\/p>\n
Republican U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew, a Trump ally in Congress, has appealed to the president\u2019s administration for \u201cemergency\u201d funding to repair beaches in his district, including Ocean City and Strathmere.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe congressman has spoken with the Army Corps of Engineers and they are very receptive to emergency funding for these communities and others,\u201d a spokesperson for Van Drew\u2019s office said in an email to NJ Advance Media. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe NJDEP had asked us to engage the Army Corps in this discussion, which is exactly what we have done,\u201d the statement said. \u201cOf course, this has to go through a process, in which we are in the middle of, and we expect good results.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Weeks have passed since several Jersey Shore towns alerted state officials to their eroded beaches, declaring states of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":315138,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[162106,192,86412,79,162107,162108],"class_list":{"0":"post-315137","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-avalon","9":"tag-environment","10":"tag-ocean-city","11":"tag-science","12":"tag-stone-harbor","13":"tag-wildwood"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315137","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=315137"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315137\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/315138"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=315137"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=315137"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=315137"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}