DESCRIPTION: The project area is located on the south shore of Long Island consisting of approximately 9 miles of oceanfront from Jones Inlet to East Rockaway Inlet. The area has been subject to direct wave attack and flooding during major storms and hurricanes, causing damage to structures located along the barrier island. A historical low height and narrow width of the beach front has increased the potential for storm damage. Damaging storms have occurred in 1938, 1950, 1953, 1960, 1962, 1984, 1991, 1992 and 2012. In October 2012, Super Storm Sandy was credited with over $250 million dollars of damage. The proposed project would provide coastal storm damage risk reduction to the highly developed communities in this area. The 1995 Feasibility Report’s recommended plan would provide reduce risk against a 100-year storm event for 7 of the 9 miles of public shoreline between Jones Inlet and East Rockaway Inlet, including the communities of Point Lookout, Lido Beach, and the City of Long Beach. The recommended plan includes: 1] the construction of a 110 foot wide protective berm at an elevation of 10 feet above sea level, 2] a 25 foot wide dune system at an elevation of 15 feet above sea level, 3] the rehabilitation of sixteen (16) existing groins in the City of Long Beach, 4] the construction of four (4) new groins at the eastern end of the island in the Town of Hempstead, and 5] periodic nourishment of the restored beaches for a period of 50 years.
AUTHORIZATION: The feasibility study was conducted pursuant to a resolution by the Committee on Public Works and Transportation of the U.S. House of Representatives adopted October 1, 1986. Project construction was authorized by the Water Resources Development Act of 1996.
STATUS: A feasibility report was completed in February 1995 and the Preconstruction Engineering, and Design (PED) phase was completed in September 1997. However, the non-Federal sponsor, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC), requested that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) reanalyze the area between the proposed new groins in the Town of Hempstead and existing groin field in the City of Long Beach before starting any construction. The study would utilize new modeling techniques that were unavailable during the feasibility study, in order to finalize the groin field design. A Limited Reevaluation Report (LRR) and Environmental Assessment (EA) were initiated in 2005. The LRR/EA requirement is to reanalyze the project with new data and confirm assumptions made by the 1995 authorized plan. However, in 2006 local interests withdrew support from the project until 2010, upon which the LRR/EA process was re-started at the request of the NYSDEC. In December of 2012, local interests restated their interest in moving forward with the project. 100% Federal funds are being used to analyze the sand borrow area, analyze storm beach model effects, and update economic and environmental data to determine a final recommended plan of improvement, in cooperation with the NYSDEC, City of Long Beach, Town of Hempstead and Nassau County. Upon approval of the LRR/EA by all parties, and completion of PED phase, the project’s construction could be initiated, subject to the availability of funds and the execution of a Project Partnership Agreement between the USACE and the NYSDEC.
CONTACT: Ronald Pinzon, Project Manager, Phone: (917) 790-8627, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New York District, Programs and Project Management Division, Civil Works Programs Branch, 26 Federal Plaza, Room 2134, New York, NY 10278-0090, ronald.r.pinzon@usace.army.mil
CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICTS: Carolyn McCarthy NY-04
Current as of February 2013