But here's what one of the world's foremost authorities on shoreline dynamics had to say in a 2002 essay. His name is Orrin Pilkey and he is a retired professor at Duke University. His essay provides a much different part of the story than the one being spun by Ray Judah."/>
But here's what one of the world's foremost authorities on shoreline dynamics had to say in a 2002 essay. His name is Orrin Pilkey and he is a retired professor at Duke University. His essay provides a much different part of the story than the one being spun by Ray Judah."/>
But here's what one of the world's foremost authorities on shoreline dynamics had to say in a 2002 essay. His name is Orrin Pilkey and he is a retired professor at Duke University. His essay provides a much different part of the story than the one being spun by Ray Judah." />
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Essay information provides more nourishment facts

3 min read
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To the editor:

As Lee County Commissioner Ray Judah continues his harassment of our beach front property owners who refuse to sign re-nourishment easements, he’s hired what he calls a local “expert” on beach renourishment to help him sell his beloved plan.

But here’s what one of the world’s foremost authorities on shoreline dynamics had to say in a 2002 essay. His name is Orrin Pilkey and he is a retired professor at Duke University. His essay provides a much different part of the story than the one being spun by Ray Judah.

“Here are several principles, valid for all beach nourishment projects, of which the public is frequently not made aware:”

Almost, without exception, nourished beaches disappear faster than natural beaches (2 to 12 times faster by our estimate);

Nourished beaches recover poorly after storms compared to natural beaches;

Because they erode faster, nourished beaches almost always have scarps, or small vertical cliffs, that serve as barriers to nesting sea turtles and are dangerous to beach users. The New Jersey governor recently broke his leg after falling from a four-foot scarp on a nourished beach;

The predicted cost of federal beach nourishment projects are almost always underestimated, which produces questionable cost/benefit ratios;

Along many reaches of American shoreline, economically feasible sand supplies available for nourishment are minimal or non-existent. As a result, we can anticipate that the cost of sand will increase dramatically;

Both Corps and consultant engineers use predictive mathematical models that simply can not predict the lifespan of nourished beaches. Nature, at the shoreline, is far too complex to be duplicated by mere mathematical models. Despite the fact that engineering models such as GENESIS and SBEACH lack validity as has been pointed out in the scientific literature their use continues unabated;

The design of beach nourishment projects is highly subjective and in the hands of the US Army Corps of Engineers, who benefits from constructing beach stabilization projects, and private consultants who must find the truth according to their clients’ needs in order to survive professionally. Although public comment is allowed for federal projects, it is often nothing more than lip service and an exercise in futility (unless a congressman is involved).

We feel it is essential that the long term several generations be taken into account when debating funding a beach nourishment project. The reason for this is that, in actual fact, once a beach has been nourished in our system, there is a very high probability that it will continue to be nourished over and over. Like seawalls, once a beach is nourished, it will always be nourished. We should not take this first step until we know where it all leads down the road. The public must be given a thorough and straightforward analysis of environmental impacts and long-term costs and consider the issue of who should pay. We need a societal debate, carried out on a level playing field, regarding the future of beach nourishment in America.

Lee Melsek

Fort Myers Beach