Senators Plan to Jump-Start Long Beach Army Corps Project

At a Nov. 15 meeting with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Sens. Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand called on the corps to expedite seven projects – all of which Congress has already authorized but were never started or completed – to protect coastline communities from flooding during future storms, from Staten Island to Long Beach to Montauk Point.

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According to Schumer’s office, the senator hopes Congress will approve $500 million to $1 billion in new financing for these projects as early as December. The plan for seven of the nine miles of shoreline between Jones and East Rockaway inlets includes the construction of a 110-foot-wide protective berm 10 feet above sea level, as well as a 25-foot-wide dune system, as well as the rehabilitation of the 16 rock jetties in Long Beach, and the construction of four new jetties at the eastern end of the barrier island.

In a statement Schumer said:

These seven projects have been approved by Congress, are ready to be started or rebuilt, and should be the first phase of a comprehensive, Katrina-style protection plan for New York’s coasts. They will offer significant protection while our longer-term infrastructure needs are evaluated. This is a ready roadmap for storm and flood protection for New York that we can implement in the very near future that is affordable and based on the Army Corps’ successful actions after Katrina.
A $100 million Army Corps proposal aimed at protecting Long Beach from storm damage has stalled since it received federal approval in 1996. In 2006, the City Council shot it down after trustees who voted against it argued that it was too costly and failed to address potential flooding from Reynolds Channel, after a number of residents, surfers and others said it would ruin ocean views and negatively impact wave conditions, according to the Long Beach Herald.

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In 2009, the city released a coastal protection study conducted by the consulting firm Coastal Planning & Engineering Inc., which offered guidance in implementing a revised federal storm-protection program that addressed those concerns.