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U.S. NEWS Thursday 14 sepTember 2017

APNewsBreak: US, New Jersey town agree on beach flooding fix

he insisted is necessary fol- Representatives of the
lowing the catastrophic Army Corps did not imme-
damage Superstorm San- diately respond to requests
dy wreaked on parts of the for comment Wednesday.
shore in 2012. A consent decree filed
Margate, an upscale shore Tuesday night shows both
town south of Atlantic City, sides in agreement with the
argues that its wooden plan, including that it “will
bulkhead provides ad- be paid for with federal
equate protection against funds allocated for the fed-
ocean storm surge, and eral project.”Last month,
says most of its Sandy dam- New Jersey Superior Court
age came from bay flood- Judge Julio Mendez ex-
ing on the other side of pressed shock at photos
town.The solution agreed showing “lake-like” ponds
upon Tuesday night will in- of standing water on the
volve the U.S. Army Corps beach in Margate for days
of Engineers installing pipes following heavy rains, and
underground, running temporarily shut down the
parallel to the beach to project. But a federal court
collect water that other- allowed it to resume while
wise would have ponded both sides worked toward
on the beach. Every few a permanent solution.
blocks, outfall pipes will When storms dumped
carry that water back out nearly a half foot of rain
In this Aug. 1, 2017 photo, beachgoers stroll past huge ponds of standing water on the beach in to the ocean, Rand said. on Margate, water quickly
Margate, N.J., which formed after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers built protective sand dunes on
the beach. On Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2017, the Army Corps, state and local governments agreed on a The federal government collected in excavated
plan for the feds to build and pay for an underground drainage system to prevent similar flooding will pay the entire cost of areas between the dunes
from happening again on the beach. the project, which has not and the wooden bulkhead
(AP Photo/Wayne Parry) yet been calculated, he that separates oceanfront
By WAYNE PARRY the dunes and the town’s said. homes from the sand. q
Associated Press wooden bulkhead.
MARGATE, N.J. (AP) — The The plan was signed
federal government has Wednesday by a federal
agreed to clean up the judge.
mess it created on a New “This should eliminate the
Jersey beach, where flood- problem,” said Rand, who
ing from a dune construc- unsuccessfully sued the
tion project forced beach- federal government on
goers to wade through behalf of homeowners
vile water or take blocks- and then the town to try to
long detours to reach the block the dune construc-
ocean. tion project. The lawsuits
Jordan Rand, the lawyer predicted in minute detail
for Margate, told The Asso- almost exactly the type of
ciated Press that the town flooding Margate feared
and federal governments would occur if the dunes
filed an agreement with were built.
U.S. District Court on Tues- The dunes are part of Re-
day night. publican Gov. Chris Chris-
It calls for construction tie’s plan for a nearly
of an underground pipe unbroken line of storm de-
system to prevent water fense along the state’s 127-
from collecting between mile coastline, something