Montauk Beach Project Will Proceed, Town Says

A sandbag seawall being built to armor the downtown Montauk ocean shore will be completed, town officials said Monday, despite a swell of vehement protest and opposition that arose after beach excavation and pile driving for wooden access walks got under way early this month.

According to a press release issued Monday afternoon, town officials have "listened carefully to the numerous, passionate concerns raised in response to the commencement of construction activity," but see "no basis upon which to halt this project." The board, it says, "fully supports completion of this interim protective measure until the completion of the Fire Island to Montauk Point Reformulation Study (FIMP)."

Despite rallies against it, petitions, an email campaign, and civil disobedience on the beach job site that have continued almost daily since Nov. 5, officials said in the release that the $8.4 million Army Corps of Engineers project will continue.

Opponents had asked Larry Cantwell, the town supervisor, and the town board, which signed off on the federal project last year, to retract support for the 3,100-foot, 15-foot-tall "dune" of sandbags, that will be covered with three feet of excavated sand. They called for a sand-only approach, avoiding the sandbag wall construction and instead refurbishing and extending the beach with sand.

The Army Corps has endorsed that approach as part of a longer-term project under its Fire Island to Montauk Point Reformulation Study, for which an updated draft plan is due in February, but federal, state, county, and town officials have all endorsed the sandbag wall for short-term protection of downtown motels and other buildings against flooding from potential storms.

"It can't be emphasized enough that the current project is an interim protective measure until FIMP can finally be completed and the long-term stabilization solutions can be implemented. We will do everything in our power to cooperate with our federal, state, and county partners and strongly advocate that the preferred sand-only stabilization project be authorized, funded, and implemented as soon as possible," Supervisor Cantwell said in the release.

While the project is being done at full federal expense, as part of an emergency beach stabilization program following Hurricane Sandy, the town and county will be responsible for maintaining and replacing the three-foot topping of sand if it is washed away.

Despite the statement from the town, opponents have planned another demonstration on the beach where contractors continue to work on Tuesday morning at 7 a.m., followed by attendance at a town board work session at Town Hall in East Hampton, which begins at 10 a.m.

"The calls to cancel this project are well meaning, but simply not in the interest of public safety," said Town Councilman Fred Overton in today's press release.

New York State Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr. also weighed in on the project, which has been under discussion for more than three years, saying "the town made the right decision" in allowing the "emergency project."

"As I repeatedly stated during all of the public hearings on this proposal, this emergency project was far from perfect," he said. " In fact, I stated it was only marginally better than a sharp stick in the eye."

"However," he wrote, "after Hurricane Sandy, for those who are entrusted with the public safety, doing nothing was not an option. Leaving downtown Montauk vulnerable for years would have been irresponsible. This interim measure was necessary to provide some protection to downtown Montauk."

County Legislator Jay Schneiderman, a Montauk property owner and former East Hampton Town supervisor, and Councilman Peter Van Scoyoc also endorsed the work by the Army Corps. Mr. Schneiderman called it "a means to an end."

"In a few years, a wide sandy beach will be constructed in front of the dune," he wrote in the press release. "Under this federally funded project, sand will be dredged from off shore and pumped onto the beach. The current project is necessary in the interim period to protect all of downtown Montauk if a major storm strikes. After the beach has been constructed, the current project will not be necessary and can be removed."

"The notion that this is an emergency action is patently false," Kevin McAllister, the founder of Defend H2O and a plaintiff in a lawsuit filed last spring against the Army Corps project, said in an email this afternoon.

The sandbag wall being built is disallowed on the ocean beach according to East Hampton's state-endorsed coastal regulations, but variation from those rules is allowed under "emergency" conditions. In its application for a restraining order to suspend construction of the project, which is to be decided by a judge in the coming days, Defend H2O has submitted an opinion by Steve Resler, who oversaw coastal policy for New York State, contesting the legal conclusion that the seawall is warranted under the emergency provision. It also raises questions about other aspects of the project's legal underpinnings.

The officials are attempting to "rationalize a violation of state and local law, which at its core was politically driven to appease private property interests," Mr. McAllister said. "Tim Bishop, Fred Thiele, Steve Bellone, Jay Schneiderman all had a hand in this project and sold out the community," he charged.