People in Margate are sad, mad about their new dunes, wider beach

MARGATE, N.J. — "Looks like hell."

"Awful."

"Devastating."

"It's literally like watching a loved one tortured."

"Our beautiful beach is being ruined."

There's no shortage of told-you-so dismay on the beaches and social media of Margate over the Army Corps of Engineers project to construct dunes and widen beaches, an edict of Gov. Christie that the city fought for years, preferring its flat beaches and bulkhead, and predicting that the dunes would cause more problems than they would solve.

Now, as the 24-hour noisy construction and rusty pipes have moved into Margate at the height of summer, residents and officials say their worst fears are being realized: This week's heavy rains left large gullies of water between the bulkhead and the new dune, water that failed to percolate into the sand as it was supposed to, and left some beach-goers having to walk through standing water to first get to the dune, then up and over the dune to get to the beach (which at several spots in Margate was closed to swimming Wednesday because of construction-related issues).

"This is what we said would happen for the last four years," said Margate's very unhappy mayor, Mike Becker, who said the timing and the project itself have been blows to his beach town at its most economically sensitive and cherished time. "It's happening. It's ugly. It's a mess now. There's water all over the place. It becomes a nonmanageable problem. "

Once up and over the dune, the new beach stretches out much wider than before. It's a hike. The big, rusty pipe that carries the sand being dredged will stay on the beach for the project's duration.

"It's like crossing the Sahara desert," Ava Lubert, a lifelong resident, said of the new landscape, which beach-goers maintain is made with a darker, coarser sand than they're used to. They worry about the loss of surfing breaks, and about waves breaking in shallow surf. Others imagine that the dredged post-Sandy sand will carry toxins and have been alarmed by some elevated bacteria levels stirred up by the beach construction. "It's sad. Seeing this, it's just sad."

Lubert said the standing water had "birds pooping in it" and forced long detours for beach-goers.

"We were wondering if they were going to offer ferry service," said Tracy Nalbandian.

Bob Considine of the state Department of Environmental Protection called the ponding a "temporary condition" that is a byproduct of the beach construction, pumping of the sand and water, and the heavy rains of the last few days. He said the state was working on a long-term solution. The project called for the beach to be dug out like a trench to collect water between the bulkhead and the dune, which ideally would settle into the sand.

"There's just a lot of saturation," Considine said. "This has been kind of a problem area prior to the project, which the city remedied by trenching between the bulkhead and the ocean."

Still, the ponding water revived fears raised at a December federal court hearing, the last of several held as Margate hired lawyers and spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to block the state from proceeding with the project. The city argued that the prior method of dealing with storm water — digging trenches that ran from the bulkhead to the ocean — would be impossible with the dunes in the way, leading to standing water, mosquitoes, and even a threat of Zika.

Becker said the city was in discussion with the Army Corps and the state to come up with a solution to the drainage troubles — a problem that he said has been exacerbated by the project and about which the city repeatedly expressed concerns.

The DEP's Considine said the state was finalizing a plan to bring "a long-term, engineering solution to these storm-water issues that have existed there for a long time."

"Basically, it's a drainage-collection system that would involve the discharge of the storm water to the ocean," he said.

On the beach Wednesday, Ted Tannenbaum of Philadelphia was more philosophical than most and said the long resistance to the project was partly to blame for Margate's bearing the brunt of the construction during the summer, which has worried Realtors and other business owners.  (The state has denied that Margate is being punished for its resistance, and blamed the timing issues on the contractor, Weeks Marine.) Several blocks of the beach are closed at a time as the project moves from north to south. Longport will be next, though likely after the summer season is over. Work is also being done on Atlantic City beaches, and will move later this summer to Ventnor.

"They got what they deserved," Tannenbaum said.

He said the dune was "not as high as I thought it would be."

"It is what it is," he said. "It's just different. It's definitely a little less convenient. And a little less convenient the older you get."

The long hike up and over the dunes worried others on the beach with kids and gear, and also with older parents. Ventnor's boardwalk features walkways that go over the dunes, and does not require a similar hike. Also, the beach goes straight out from Ventnor's dunes, which at least in the northern part of Margate above its pier leaves a wide portion of the beach behind the dune.

Becker said that would change on the other side of the pier, where the dune will be closer to the bulkhead, and to houses.

There were further concerns about whether the Margate Fishing Pier, privately owned, would be landlocked, and how the beach replenishment would affect surfing and rip tides.

On the beach block of Exeter, Nicole Grenata was renting a pricey beach block house for the week and found the beach at the end of her street closed for construction, 24-hour noise, and ponding water across the street. And no more ocean view from the first-floor porch (though still from the second-floor deck).

"It's a bummer," she said. "It's 24 hours a day. I don't blame the owners."

Some in nearby Ventnor, though, advised Margatians to embrace the dunes, which the state insists will provide needed protection in future storms, and to remember Sandy, which caused widespread destruction along the coast five years ago this October. Margate, though, says the flooding problems were primarily from the bay, not the ocean.

Apparently they liked their beach just fine the way it was. And aren't afraid to say so, especially on Facebook.

"It's really tough to witness."

"Can't wait for Mother Nature to take her revenge & give me my beach back…ggggrrrr!!!"