DESCRIPTION: The Montauk Point project area, including the historic lighthouse, is located on a bluff at the eastern end of the southern fork of Long Island in the Town of East Hampton, Suffolk County, NY. It is approximately 125 miles east of New York City. The area surrounding the lighthouse is operated as a State park and is used primarily by fishermen and sightseers. The Montauk Point Lighthouse was commissioned by President Washington and completed in 1796, and is included in the National Register of Historic Places. Since its construction, the lighthouse has served as an important navigation aid for the first land encountered by ships headed for New York Harbor and Long Island Sound, as well as other ports on the eastern seaboard. Its original position was approximately 300 feet from the eastern tip of Long Island, but the combined forces of storm induced erosion and long-term constant erosion now leave less than 50 feet of land in front of the structure. The entire State park, which surrounds the lighthouse complex, was being increasingly threatened by loss of protective beachfront land.
AUTHORIZATION: The Montauk Point study was authorized by a resolution of the Committee on the Environment and Public Works of the United States Senate adopted 15 May 1991. Project construction is authorized in Section 1001 (36) of the Water Resources Development Act of 2007. In response to the 2012 Sandy event, Public Law 113-2, The Disaster Relief Appropriations Act of 2013, provides the Federal funds necessary to complete the project’s initial construction. Sponsor cost-share funds are provided separately.
STATUS: The recommended plan of improvement identified in the Final Feasibility Report and Environmental Impact Statement (dated October 2005) included the placement of a new stone revetment to cover the most critically eroding area of Montauk Point, in order to avoid the eventual total loss of the irreplaceable historic lighthouse and complex. The Final Report of the Chief of Engineers on the Montauk Point, New York, Hurricane & Storm Damage Reduction Project was provided to Congress on March 31, 2006. In response to the 2012 Sandy event, a Final Hurricane Sandy Limited Re-evaluation Report (HSLRR), Final Environmental Assessment (EA) and Final Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) were completed and formally approved by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on 6 April 2017.
A Project Partnership Agreement was executed between the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the State of New York in January 2019, which cost-shared project construction at 65% Federal, and 35% Non-Federal. The construction contract for the new stone revetment was awarded in January 2021, and construction was initiated March 2021. Major stone work for the new revetment was completed December 2022, and project site restoration was completed June 2023.
Formal turnover of the completed project to the Sponsor (State of New York) for required project operation and maintenance was completed in September 2023.
Please see the Montauk Point webpage and project placemat for additional details.
CONTACT:
Frank Verga
Project Manager
P: (917) 790-8212
Email: Frank.Verga@usace.army.mil
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New York District Programs and Project Management Division
26 Federal Plaza
New York, NY 10278
CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT: NY-1