By Sue Clark on Feb 6, 2008 in Featured, Threatened | Comments Off
Another Lighthouse Threatened
From the pages of The Daily in Australia comes a little story about the Bribie Island Lighthouse (front range), Queensland, being another threatened by erosion. Unusually violent storms, winds, flooding are taking their toll on this and other lighthouses from Canada to the US; to Europe to Australia. According to the story, massive sand losses due to the tides and weather have pushed the ocean’s edge up to the base of the lighthouse. Fears are that Pumicestone Passage will be sealed off with a sandbar. The Australian Environmental Protection Agency claims that because this is a “natural occurrence” it will not step in to help. What?
By Sue Clark on Dec 30, 2007 in Opinion, Threatened | 1 Comment
Erosion Threatening New Point Comfort Lighthouse
Sitting on a quarter acre pile of rocks in Chesapeake Bay, the New Point Comfort Lighthouse is precariously perched as the winter storms will toss them around. Abandoned by the Coast Guard in 1963 and left to weather the storms, waves and vandalism, this once proud beacon’s land is washing away. Storms such as Hurricane Isabel in 2003 have washed away much of what used to be an island. When it was built in 1805, it could be accessed on foot at low tide. Now it’s inaccessible and sits only 8 to 9 feet above mean sea level on its own island.
By Sue Clark on Dec 27, 2007 in Threatened | Comments Off
Another Loss To Erosion
Sand Island Lighthouse, Alabama, sitting on what was once an island but is now just a little pile of leftover granite boulders, is the latest in a long list of lighthouses threatened by erosion. Built on wooden pilings sunk deep into the sand, rot has eaten away its foundation. And the island it once sat on is no longer, thanks to wind, waves and storms, leaving the lighthouse, decommissioned and abandoned by the government in 1933, on the verge of collapsing into the Atlantic.
By Sue Clark on Dec 24, 2007 in Threatened | Comments Off
An Ounce of Prevention
Climate change, aka Global Warming, is being blamed for the erosion of dunes at the West Point Lighthouse on Prince Edward Island. The site it has guarded mariners against since 1876 now threatens to approach the light, bringing it down. Although it’s not in any present danger, a call to action was issued by Norm Catto, a geography professor at Memorial University in St. John’s, according to a story at Canada.Com.
By Sue Clark on Dec 8, 2007 in Threatened | Comments Off
Plum, Pilot Islands Transferred
These two Door County (Wisconsin) lighthouses and their respective islands were finally transferred from the US Coast Guard to the US Fish and Wildlife Service this past October, after decades of bureaucratic red tape and legal wrangling over environmental cleanup issues. Terms of the conveyance required the Service to partner with a nonprofit organization to renovate the buildings on Plum Island that were abandoned when the Coast Guard deserted the century-old life-saving station in 1991. That role has been taken on by the Friends of Plum and Pilot Islands, a newly formed organization just now finishing nonprofit filings (No website yet).
By Sue Clark on Dec 5, 2007 in Threatened | Comments Off
Ironwork Rusting; Mortar Crumbling
Although the peeling paint slams the eyes of visitors to Assateague Island’s lighthouse, far more dangerous problems might await the unwary visitor. Rusting ironwork along the catwalk around the lantern room has led to its being encased in mesh to prevent further chunks falling off, as happened in the summer of 2006. Mortar is literally popping out from between the bricks, which can eventually lead to a building collapse. It’s estimated that it will take over one million dollars to restore this gem of Virginia, but only $200,000 dollars has been raised so far.
From the pages of The Daily in Australia comes a little story about the Bribie Island Lighthouse (front range), Queensland, being another threatened by erosion. Unusually violent storms, winds, flooding are taking their toll on this and other lighthouses from Canada to the US; to Europe to Australia. According to the story, massive sand losses due to the tides and weather have pushed the ocean’s edge up to the base of the lighthouse. Fears are that Pumicestone Passage will be sealed off with a sandbar. The Australian Environmental Protection Agency claims that because this is a “natural occurrence” it will not step in to help. What?
