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10.24.14

Montauk, NY: Don't Bag our Beach!

While much of Surfrider's network concentrates on plastic bag bans and other plastic reducing measures during October Rise Above Plastic's month, the Eastern Long Island Chapter based at the eastern end of Long Island, NY instead implores of their Town “Don't Bag our Beach”.  

Through outreach, events & prepared testimony, the Chapter has grabbed the attention of their local newspaper and has convinced the editor of the folly of building up the downtown Montauk beaches with large GeoTextile Tubes to save an oceanfront row of hotels and businesses built unwisely on top of the primary dune decades ago.

Excerps from the featured editorial of the East Hampton Star reads: 

Save the Structures, But Lose the Beach

“Don’t Bag Our Beach!”

By Editorial | October 22, 2014 - 12:39pm

The Army Corps plan for Montauk, if it is allowed to go forward, would do more harm than good…...

the bags would function as short-lived seawalls, resulting in the near-certain total loss of a passable beach and creating massive down-drift scouring to the west…

It would be far better to set aside the money the corps has for Montauk as a down payment on a long-term approach to condemn and buy out the owners of the oceanfront properties, then build a high, more natural dune to protect the rest of the downtown. That would be a big-think, radical response, but anything less would only delay the inevitable, waste taxpayers’ money, and destroy the beach.

Full editorial available at EastHamptonStar.com

Meanwhile the Chapter is not letting down and will be holding a benefit/community forum where the harmful impacts of the Corps proposal on Montauk's public beaches will be discussed.  Visit their website to learn more.