\n
![](\"https:\/\/content.fortune.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/AP24073559026110-e1710370247659.jpg?w=2048\")
<\/p>\n [ad_1]
\n<\/p>\n
A Massachusetts beach community is scrambling after a weekend storm washed away $600,000 in sand that was trucked in to protect homes, roads and other infrastructure.<\/p>\n
The project, which brought 14,000 tons (12,701 metric tons) of sand into Salisbury over several weeks, was completed just three days before Sunday\u2019s storm clobbered southern New England with strong winds, heavy rainfall and coastal flooding.<\/p>\n
The Salisbury Beach Citizens for Change group, which facilitated the project and helped raise funds, posted on social media about the project\u2019s completion last week and then again after the storm. They argued that the project still was worthwhile, noting that \u201cthe sacrificial dunes did their job\u201d and protected some properties from being \u201ceaten up\u201d by the storm.<\/p>\n
Tom Saab, president of the group and a real estate broker\/developer, said the money was contributed by 150 property owners who said the state has refused to help them protect the beachfront and build up the dunes.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe state will not contribute any money to the rebuilding of dunes. That is the bottom line,\u201d Saab said. \u201cEverybody is angry and upset. We can\u2019t survive without sand rebuilding the dunes and can\u2019t survive paying out of our pocket after every storm.\u201d<\/p>\n
Last weekend\u2019s tempest was the latest of several recent severe storms in the community and across Massachusetts, which also suffered flooding, erosion and infrastructure damage in January.<\/p>\n
Sand replenishment has been the government\u2019s go-to method of shore protection for decades. Congress has long appropriated money for such work, arguing it effectively protects lives and property and sustains the tourism industry.<\/p>\n
But critics say it\u2019s inherently wasteful to keep pumping sand ashore that will inevitably wash away.<\/p>\n
Climate change\u00a0is forecast to bring more bad weather<\/a>, including hurricanes, to the Northeast as waters warm, some scientists say. Worldwide,\u00a0sea levels have risen faster<\/a>\u00a0since 1900, putting hundreds of millions of people at risk, the United Nations has said. And erosion from the\u00a0changing conditions jeopardizes beaches<\/a>\u00a0the world over, according to European Union researchers.<\/p>\n Salisbury is also not the first town to see its efforts literally wash away.<\/p>\n Earlier this year, after a storm destroyed its dunes, one New Jersey town sought emergency permission\u00a0to build a steel barrier<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 something it had done in two other spots \u2014 along the most heavily eroded section of its beachfront after spending millions of dollars trucking sand to the site for over a decade. The state denied the request and instead fined North Wildwood for unauthorized beach repairs. The Department of Environmental Protection has often opposed bulkheads, noting that the structures often encourage sand scouring that can accelerate and worsen erosion.<\/p>\n Republican state Sen. Bruce Tarr, who is working to secure $1.5 million in state funding to shore up the Salisbury dunes, says the efforts will protect a major roadway, water and sewer infrastructure as well as hundreds of homes, which make up more than 40% of Salisbury\u2019s tax base.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re managing a natural resource that protects a lot of interests,\u201d Tarr said, adding that replenishing the dunes is one of the few options available to the town since hard structures such as sea walls or boulders aren\u2019t allowed on Massachusetts beaches.<\/p>\n A spokesperson for the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation said to ensure the safety of the public, DCR has closed access points 9 and 10 at Salisbury Beach after they sustained damage from the recent rainstorms.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Healey-Driscoll Administration remains in regular communication with representatives from the Town, the legislative delegation and the community and will continue to work with them to address the impacts of erosion at the Beach,\u201d DCR spokeswoman Ilyse Wolberg said in a statement.<\/p>\n Saab said it makes financial sense to continue rebuilding the dunes, rather than allowing nature to take its course and consume the beach.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat, and destroy $2 billion worth of property?\u201d he asked. \u201cSalisbury is home to thousands of people that use this beach in the summer. \u2026 It would be much cheaper to continue to rebuild dunes after a series of nor\u2019easters like we\u2019ve had over the past year than letting the beach be destroyed by the ocean.\u201d<\/p>\n Still, others questioned the logic of dumping more sand on the beach.<\/p>\n Resident Peter Lodi responded to the Salisbury beach group\u2019s Facebook post, saying he wasn\u2019t sure why anyone was shocked.<\/p>\n \u201cThrow all the sand down you want. Mother nature decides how long it will protect your homes,\u201d he wrote. \u201cIt\u2019s only going to get worse. Not sure what the solution is but sand is merely a bandaid on a wound that needs multiple stitches.\u201d<\/p>\n The group responded that the state has a responsibility to protect the beach and that the residents are doing the community a favor by funding the project.<\/p>\n \u201cOur feeling is if you regulate something, you have to be accountable and maintain it,\u201d the group said. \u201cThe residents that repaired the dune in front of their property actually helped both the city and the state. Now it\u2019s their turn to step up to the plate.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\nSubscribe to Impact Report, a weekly newsletter on the trends and issues shaping corporate sustainability. Sign up<\/a> for free.<\/div>\n