Coastal towns support shoreline pilot plan

North Carolina law prohibits hardened structures - including seawalls, groins and jetties - along the ocean and inlet shorelines.

But Senate Bill 599, which overwhelming passed the Senate in May, would authorize the Coastal Resources Commission to study the use of terminal groins for ocean inlet stabilization.

It's a controversial issue, but one that several local coastal towns have weighed in on favorably, sending resolutions in support of SB 599, sponsored by state Sen. R.C. Soles, D-Columbus.

The bill would allow a community to petition the CRC for authorization to construct a terminal groin. In doing so, the town would have to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement analyzing alternatives to a terminal groin and would have to make a binding commitment to remove the device should the CRC determine the adverse affects outweigh the benefits. The town also would have to provide a financially binding commitment in an amount sufficient to cover the cost of removing the terminal groin and restoring the affected beach.

A terminal groin, according to the Inlet Solutions Web site, is a structure placed perpendicularly to the shoreline to help reduce beach erosion by temporarily trapping sand before it reaches the inlet.

Certain environmental groups and scientists, however, oppose the legislation.

Forty-three coastal scientists signed a letter urging state lawmakers not to change the law. The Coastal Scientist Groin Statement asserts, "This ban is based on: 1) extensive studies and technical data documenting the detrimental impacts of erosion control structures and 2) 150 years of documentation of the negative impacts of shoreline stabilization on the barrier islands in New Jersey."

The letter, circulated by Western Carolina University Program for the Study of Developed Shorelines states, "There is no debate: A structure placed at the terminus of a barrier island, near an inlet, will interrupt the natural sand bypass system, deprive the ebb and flood tide deltas of sand and cause negative impacts to adjacent islands."

Two North Carolina towns, however, are ready to give the structures a go. Figure 8 Island Homeowners Association Inc., a private island off New Hanover County, and the Town of Ocean Isle Beach in Brunswick County want to be considered for the pilot project. Both areas rely on sandbags to protect houses from erosion near changing inlets.

North Topsail Beach is eyeing the structures as well. Aldermen there voted 3-1 in favor of the resolution after hearing from Steve Coggins, a member of the Figure 8 Island Homeowner Association.

"The (Coastal Scientist Groin Statement) does not address the type of terminal groin specified in (SB) 599," Coggins told the board. "The focus of the bill is for a new form of a terminal groin that has some permeable aspects to it… An environmental impact statement cannot even look at this as an option unless and until we allow it to be used in one place to see if it works."

He said the pilot project would be funded by private dollars.

"Then if it works," he said, "Coastal Resources may allow it to stay in."

Alderman Dick Farley voted against the referendum based on the Coastal Scientist Groin Statement.

"Are we creating something that is going to have a detrimental effect on somebody else, I'm not convinced we aren't," Farley said in his comments prior to the vote.

Surf City Town Council voted unanimously to support SB 599 at its last meeting.

Councilman Michael Curley said the council agreed that the pilot project should be supported for its educational value.

"Look, anytime we're learning something, whether it's good or whether it's bad, it's important to the entire project," Curley said. "At our meeting, it wasn't like, 'Let's go run out and do this.' It's more like, 'Let's go find out about this.' And that's why we supported it."

Topsail Beach has not considered a referendum on the bill.

"We have not yet been approached by anyone asking us to support the bill and have not broached the subject with the board," Mayor Howard Braxton said. "In fact, I am surprised we have not been contacted yet."

Emerald Isle's Board of Commissioners unanimously approved a resolution in support of SB 599 at its February meeting, Town Clerk Rhonda Ferebee said. Its resolution refers to its historical challenges with Bogue Inlet and states approval of such a bill could result in more widespread use of terminal groins at other inlets, possibly Bogue, in the future.

The board reviewed materials from several sources before the vote was taken. It got a brief explanation of terminal groins from the Inlet Solutions Web site and saw a presentation by Tom Jarrett, a coastal engineer who spent 25 years with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Jarrett is now a consultant and wrote the article, "Terminal groins can work." The board also read the statement from Western Carolina University Program opposing the bill and read a statement from Jarrett in response to the Western Carolina University statement.

The N.C. House of Representatives may consider the bill during this year's short session, which convenes May 13. The bill is in the House Environment and Natural Resources Committee.

Contact Topsail area reporter Suzanne Ulbrich at sulbrich@freedomenc.com or 910-219-8466. Visit www.jdnews.com to comment on this report.