New Jersey officials are assessing the beach erosion caused by the nor’easter earlier this week.
New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection spokesman Larry Hajna says most of the state’s coastline suffered only minor or moderate erosion and there was no property damage.
He says the storm surge carved a 5 to 10 feet sand cliff in some oceanfront locations.
“Those will tend to level out over time. Wind will push the sand back around but then you also have the transport of the sand that was moved just offshore. That will come back into shore, maybe just not in the same place where it left.”
Hajna says the state will present a report to the Army Corps of Engineers identifying where significant amounts of sand were washed away, and beach fills are needed.
“Typically the Army Corps has emergency appropriations that they work with. If it’s part of ongoing nourishment that’s planned anyway, that’s build into the contracts that the Army Corps has with the state and the municipalities.”
Hajna says some of the worst erosion was in Bay Head where there’s significant property owner resistance to granting easements for the completion of a protective dune system.