A Massachusetts town spent $600K on shore protection. A winter storm washed it away days later

BOSTON (AP) — A Massachusetts beach community is scrambling after a 
weekend storm washed away $600,000 in sand that was trucked in to protect 
homes, roads and other infrastructure.

The project, which brought 14,000 tons (12,701 metric tons) of sand into 
Salisbury over several weeks, was completed just three days before 
Sunday’s storm clobbered southern New England with strong winds, heavy 
rainfall and coastal flooding.

The Salisbury Beach Citizens for Change group, which facilitated the 
project and helped raise funds, posted on social media about the project’s 
completion last week and then again after the storm. They argued that the 
project still was worthwhile, noting that “the sacrificial dunes did their 
job” and protected some properties from being “eaten up” by the storm.

Tom Saab, president of the group and a real estate broker/developer, said 
the money was contributed by 150 property owners who said the state has 
refused to help them protect the beachfront and build up the dunes.

“The state will not contribute any money to the rebuilding of dunes. That 
is the bottom line,” Saab said. “Everybody is angry and upset. We can’t 
survive without sand rebuilding the dunes and can’t survive paying out of 
our pocket after every storm.”

Last weekend’s tempest was the latest of several recent severe storms in 
the community and across Massachusetts, which also suffered flooding, 
erosion and infrastructure damage in January.

Sand replenishment has been the government’s go-to method of shore 
protection for decades. Congress has long appropriated money for such 
work, arguing it effectively protects lives and property and sustains the 
tourism industry.

But critics say it’s inherently wasteful to keep pumping sand ashore that 
will inevitably wash away.

Climate change is forecast to bring more bad weather, including 
hurricanes, to the Northeast as waters warm, some scientists say. 
Worldwide, sea levels have risen faster since 1900, putting hundreds of 
millions of people at risk, the United Nations has said. And erosion from 
the changing conditions jeopardizes beaches the world over, according to 
European Union researchers.

Salisbury is also not the first town to see its efforts literally wash 
away.

Earlier this year, after a storm destroyed its dunes, one New Jersey town 
sought emergency permission to build a steel barrier — something it had 
done in two other spots — along the most heavily eroded section of its 
beachfront after spending millions of dollars trucking sand to the site 
for over a decade. The state denied the request and instead fined North 
Wildwood for unauthorized beach repairs. The Department of Environmental 
Protection has often opposed bulkheads, noting that the structures often 
encourage sand scouring that can accelerate and worsen erosion.

Republican state Sen. Bruce Tarr, who is working to secure $1.5 million in 
state funding to shore up the Salisbury dunes, says the efforts will 
protect a major roadway, water and sewer infrastructure as well as 
hundreds of homes, which make up more than 40% of Salisbury’s tax base.

“We’re managing a natural resource that protects a lot of interests,” Tarr 
said, adding that replenishing the dunes is one of the few options 
available to the town since hard structures such as sea walls or boulders 
aren’t allowed on Massachusetts beaches.

A spokesperson for the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and 
Recreation said to ensure the safety of the public, DCR has closed access 
points 9 and 10 at Salisbury Beach after they sustained damage from the 
recent rainstorms.

“The Healey-Driscoll Administration remains in regular communication with 
representatives from the Town, the legislative delegation and the 
community and will continue to work with them to address the impacts of 
erosion at the Beach,” DCR spokeswoman Ilyse Wolberg said in a statement.

Saab said it makes financial sense to continue rebuilding the dunes, 
rather than allowing nature to take its course and consume the beach.

“What, and destroy $2 billion worth of property?” he asked. “Salisbury is 
home to thousands of people that use this beach in the summer. ... It 
would be much cheaper to continue to rebuild dunes after a series of 
nor’easters like we’ve had over the past year than letting the beach be 
destroyed by the ocean.”

Still, others questioned the logic of dumping more sand on the beach.

Resident Peter Lodi responded to the Salisbury beach group’s Facebook 
post, saying he wasn’t sure why anyone was shocked.

“Throw all the sand down you want. Mother nature decides how long it will 
protect your homes,” he wrote. “It’s only going to get worse. Not sure 
what the solution is but sand is merely a bandaid on a wound that needs 
multiple stitches.”

The group responded that the state has a responsibility to protect the 
beach and that the residents are doing the community a favor by funding 
the project.

“Our feeling is if you regulate something, you have to be accountable and 
maintain it,” the group said. “The residents that repaired the dune in 
front of their property actually helped both the city and the state. Now 
it’s their turn to step up to the plate.”

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