May 16, 2008
Vol. 38, No. 227

Contact: Melinda Carl, Public Affairs, (302) 739-9902.

DNREC to Lead Tour and Assessment of Delaware Shoreline
State and Federal Beach Nourishment Projects Withstand Storm’s Fury 

Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control Secretary John A. Hughes will lead state and local officials on a tour of ocean shoreline management projects tomorrow in the aftermath of the May 12 storm that battered beaches along Delaware Bay but did less damage to ocean beaches built up by state and federal beach improvement projects.

Joining Secretary Hughes will be Lt. Governor John C. Carney Jr., Pennsylvania Lt. Governor Catherine Baker Knoll, Emergency Management Director Jamie Turner and other state and local officials. Lt. Gov. Knoll serves as Chairwoman of Pennsylvania’s Emergency Management Council and is collecting information on Delaware’s methods of response to weather events.

Secretary Hughes noted that although the storm caused damage to dunes and a few walkways and ramps, no dune breaches occurred at any of the replenished beaches.

“Recent beach nourishment projects in Rehoboth, Dewey, Bethany, South Bethany and Fenwick Island provided critical protections along the coast,” said Hughes. “The effects of Monday’s storm on some of the dunes are apparent, but the enhanced beaches and dunes prevented damage to the boardwalks, oceanfront streets and properties.”

A newly rebuilt groin in Cape Henlopen State Park at Herring Point accumulated a great deal of sand which served to protect the dunes, parking lot, and ultimately Battery Herring, an historic World War II gun battery.

DNREC’s responses to the coastal storm emergency and assessment of its land management assets in State Parks and Fish and Wildlife areas will be included in an assessment underway by DEMA officials to determine if the damage is sufficient to request federal assistance for storm response, repairs and protective measures through a federal emergency declaration.