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CALVIN R. PECK, JR.
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Tab 9
Star-News (Wilmington, NC)
November 23, 2009
Project pumping up erosion-hit beaches
Author: Gareth McGrath
After enduring nearly nine months of erosion, Bald Head Island's west and south beaches aren't
back yet.
But they're back to growing in the right direction. Crews began marshaling equipment on the
Brunswick County island in late October and began pumping sand from the Jaybird Shoals in the
Cape Fear River on Nov. 1. Three weeks later, homes aren't threatened with potentially falling
into the ocean at the next high tide.
"Everyone is very pleased, just wishing it would go faster," said Village Manager Calvin Peck.
Bald Head's beaches began washing away earlier his year when the Army Corps of Engineers
began maintenance dredging of the nearby Cape Fear River shipping channel.
Erosion occurs every time the corps dredges the shipping channel, which was relocated closer to
the Brunswick County island a decade ago.
But this was the first year that the dredged sand wasn't placed back on the island. Instead, it was
pumped over to Caswell Beach across the river's mouth.
That exacerbated the situation, since there was no material to replace what was washing away,
and the erosion continued through the summer.
Some areas lost several hundred feet of beach and dune, and by late summer several homes and
at least one street were relying on sandbags to hold back the encroaching waves.
Beach overwashing also was common during storms or higher-than-normal tides.
Corps officials have said that they aren't doing anything different this dredging cycle and that it
was a buildup of sand on West Beach that made the island "grow" toward the shipping channel.
But Bald Head officials disagree, and Peck said the village is still considering taking legal action
against the federal agency.
Worried about the continued threat to exposed homes and infrastructure, island officials decided
to fast-forward a $15 million town-funded beach nourishment project.
Bald Head's nourishment is just the first of what will be a busy winter season for dredging
companies in Southeastern North Carolina. All three New Hanover County beach towns are
scheduled to have their beaches nourished in early 2010.
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