beach erosion

When Al Gore spends time at the North Carolina coast he stays at Figure Eight Island in a 7,000 square foot house voted most likely to fall into the ocean.  A thin stretch of beach separates the house from the rising sea along with a temporary line of sand bags 25 feet away, due for removal May 2008 in compliance with coastal regulations.  Sand bags on the beach are double edged swords, protecting the land side while accelerating erosion on the ocean side.  Owner Parker Overton filed a spirited variance request with the Coastal Resources Commission in February for a March hearing. 

Part of the variance request referred to the passing of SB 599 (what I refer to as the Terminal Groin Injury Act) in 2007 due to be heard in the House 2008 which would allow a terminal groin pilot project, presumed to be destined for a location close to the house.  Among political contributors on Figure Eight Island Parker Overton and his wife are the most generous.  As recently as December 2007 they each contributed $4,000 to the campaign of Marc Basnight. 

Figure Eight Island wants to have your cake and eat it too. While pursuing a terminal groin injury on the North Carolina coast, full steam ahead, the Islanders have been slow paddling a beach renourishment project that might scuttle the groin proposal if implemented too fast according to coastal observers.

Last year a Figure Eight Island/ Rich Inlet project was described in the Federal Register 07-848. A public hearing was held March 1st 2007 in Wilmington and written comments were received until March 29th, 2007. According to the Army Corps of Engineers not much has occurred since. The sense of urgency that propelled an end run by the NC Senate around coastal regulations prohibiting groins would evaporate if legislators knew that Figure Eight Island was actively engaged in beach renourishment.

The erosion problems at North Carolina's beaches have been a topic of conversation since I was a little girl. A study released back in March paints a very gloomy future for many of our beautiful southern NC beaches and its all related to climate change. This time the concern isn't traditional beach erosion, its the possibility the sea will swallow the beaches whole - much of it disappearing in my/our lifetime.

This makes it all the more surprising that the North Carolina legislature has so far failed to address renewable energy in a truly meaningful fashion. I'm not an expert in the field and I don't expect our legislators to be experts either, but I do expect them to listen to the experts.

Rep. Grier Martin asked for our help earlierin determining what the next step is. He pointed us to this article in the N&O that outlined where the legislation stood at the time. This study has been out for a few months and apparently hasn't caused much of a stir among our state's leaders.