Emergency beach repairs start in New Jersey shore town amid $33M legal fight
Heavy equipment crews are moving sand along a stretch of badly eroded beach in North Wildwood where a bitter fight over how to protect its rapidly shrinking beaches has led to $33 million worth of litigation
NORTH WILDWOOD, N.J. (AP) — A bulldozer began moving sand along a stretch of badly eroded beach Monday in a Jersey Shore town where the bitter fight over how to protect its rapidly shrinking shoreline has led to $33 million worth of litigation.
Before the summer tourism season kicks off this weekend, North Wildwood hopes to repair dunes in the most heavily eroded section of its beach and restore beach access points to usable condition. The state Department of Environmental Protection granted permission for emergency repairs last week.
The town and the state have been fighting for years over how best to protect North Wildwood's shoreline as it waits to become the last part of the state to receive a beach replenishment project that is still at least two years away.
The state has fined North Wildwood $12 million for past unauthorized work on its beaches that the state claims could actually worsen erosion.
