Emerging Information About That Seawall

The latest developments in the United States Army Corps of Engineers project to build a 3,100-foot-long sandbag wall on the downtown Montauk oceanfront warrant close attention. Though a private lawsuit could still derail this massive boondoggle, the Corps, East Hampton Town officials, and the state appear to be moving forward. Recently described details concern pedestrian and vehicular access over the planned artificial dune and what happens to rainwater there. Barring a court ruling, work is expected to begin in October.

Now, unbelievably, the same people who brought us the Katrina disaster are considering installing some kind of a floodgate to allow rainfall and runoff to escape to the ocean. Sorry. We are not convinced.

From the start, the project has been marked by rule-bending, false claims, inadequate review, and, going back several years, an embarrassing, overstated back-of-the-napkin economic analysis. All this has not appeared to shake current town support. Politics plays a role; woe be the elected official who speaks out to block the effort then sees heavy damage caused by a hurricane or bad winter storm. But expediency comes at the expense of sound planning and a responsible answer to the long-term issue of erosion.

Downtown Montauk was built where it should not be. It’s that simple. No Army Corps seawall by itself is going to change that fact. The Corps’s poorly conceived project only delays the day of reckoning, which should have taken place after Hurricane Sandy’s near miss in 2012. Tough leadership is desperately needed, but it is not coming — from any level of government.