Group Claims Adding Rocks Will Harm Environment

After months of planning, and getting approval and estimated for the addition of rocks at Montauk Point Lighthouse, including having to transfer ownership to the town of East Hampton to get the funding, a group of surfers has come forward to protest the addition of the rocks to the existing revetment at the point. The Eastern Long Island Surfriders claimed at a July 7 meeting that the better thing to do is move the lighthouse away from the cliff edge, citing such lighthouses as Sankaty, Cape Hatteras and others as examples.

The town rebutted with the fact that the moves shown in the presentation by the surfriders were relatively simple, and involved moving only a lighthouse over level land. That option does not exist at Montauk Point, with several buildings being involved. To move those buildings to safety would involve completely dismantling them and rebuilding at a new site, at a cost far far greater than the estimated $7 million already earmarked.

The revetment to slow the erosion at the point was put into place in the 1940s and again in the 1990s, in an effort to slow the erosion. It has not worked entirely, and the Army Corps of Engineers will be replacing rocks that have washed away. Lighthouse Committee member Greg Donahue, who manages erosion control for the Historical Society, said,”We have a point that’s protected, we are not moving the lighthouse back.” He also said that due to their efforts the bluff “hasn’t lost as much as a wheelbarrow [of sediment] since 1992.”

So Why the Objection?

The Surfriders claim in the story at the Hamptons that this project will irrevocably alter the shoreline. From the story:

Montauk resident Chris Coleman challenged the Army Corps’ ability to accurately assess the possible effects of their work, citing his estimation of the damage done to Culloden Beach after the Corps extended the jetties at the inlet to Montauk Harbor. “Have you seen what that project has done to the shoreline there? Absolutely crucified it,” Coleman asserted. “To say that this group is eligible to tell us what is going to happen at the Point is absurd. You see what they did there,” he continued, citing erosion around Turtle Cove that has been attributed to the current revetment at the base. “Now, let’s put steroids on it and let the Atlantic Ocean smack up against it. You’re making a big mistake for the surfers, the fishermen and everyone involved.”

Ah, the surfers. This has been an ongoing, albeit ineffective fight by this group for a while. On their website, they have a full page devoted to this issue, claiming that the rocks are responsible for altering the shoreline. While I agree that the unmanaged building of seawalls may have unintended consequences on other parts of the shoreline, it’s hard to see how putting up a few more rocks and extending it outward a little will have any major effect.

There is even a “position paper” on their page (you can download it from this link, but be aware it’s an 11.40 MB PDF file) that states, “Underestimating future sea levels is a dangerous game that could greatly shorten the expected lifetime of a given installation. This supports a real fear among surfers that a world class surf break could be sacrificed to save the Lighthouse only to discover that the USACE’s work failed to achieve its goal.”

Yep. A protest to save a place to surf. It’s not surprising, but still disappointing. For a small group of people that surf in the area to want to have the government spend $50 million or more to move an historic lighthouse and its buildings off the hill, as opposed to the already expensive (but cheaper) $7 million, smacks once again of selfishness. And elitism.

To the citizens of East Hampton, what is more important? An exclusive group of surfers or a lighthouse that was personally commissioned in 1792 by George Washington, the first president of the country? I think we all know the answer here. To the town board members, by all means listen to your citizens, as you are required to do, and then do the wise and economical thing. Let this project begin and protect one of our oldest lighthouses from toppling into the sea.

Photo Credits:

• Montauk Lighthouse by cottonharris. Some rights reserved.
• View from the lighthouse by silatix. Some rights reserved.

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