Jersey Shore town countersues DEP for $20M over plan to fight erosion with new bulkhead

Morning trips to the beach in North Wildwood are routine for Mayor Patrick Rosenello, who has lived in the city since 1977.

To appreciate the views sure, but lately to survey sand dunes which until recently were the only thing standing between homes and waves prone to become fiercer amid storms.

Last October, the remnants of Hurricane Ian wiped away about 80 feet of sand dunes there. While the city reinforced the area, that dwindled to about 30 feet in December.

Where does it stand in the New Year?

Literally 10 feet, I walked it this morning. Theres nothing left, Rosenello told NJ Advance Media.

To better protect residents and homes in North Wildwood where about 5,000 people live and as many as 40,000 visit each summer Rosenello said the city plans to build an $800,000 steel bulkhead on the beach near 15th Avenue.

In October, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection blocked the towns emergency request to build the bulkhead, pointing to no immediate threat to loss of life nor severe property loss, court documents showed. But Rosenello disagreed, saying more noreasters are imminent and reinforcements have been required for years and especially now given the impact of Ian. The state asked the Superior Court at the end of 2022 to take action by filing a request for a temporary injunction to end the work equipment to build the bulkhead is already on site. While the emergency action to halt the work was not put in place, the DEP and North Wildwood are due in court Jan. 17, wherein the city will make a case over why the injunction should not be imposed.

On Wednesday, in responding to the lawsuit, Rosenello said North Wildwood is countersuing the DEP for $20 million in damages as a result of the agencys ongoing failure in its responsibility to provide meaningful shore protection to the beaches and dunes in North Wildwood.

Erosion of the dunes near 15th Avenue In North Wildwood, Wednesday, Jan. 04, 2023. New Jersey DEP is suing the city of North Wildwood over plans to build a bulkhead to reinforce sand dunes. Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Rosenello told NJ Advance Media on Tuesday that another reason the city is countersuing is over how the DEP went about denying the emergency authorization for the new bulkheads construction.

(The DEP) sent an unlicensed individual with basically amateur survey equipment to the site, Rosenello said. Its unprofessional bordering on unethical.

A DEP spokeswoman said Wednesday evening that the agency does not comment on pending litigation. A spokeswoman with state Attorney Generals Office, which filed the lawsuit, declined to comment.

Rosenello said while initial plans called for a 400-foot steel bulkhead, based on the deterioration of the sand dune it may be extended to as much as 1,000 feet.

In denying the citys request to build the bulkhead, the state initially said, Restraining North Wildwood from installing the bulkhead is necessary to prevent permanent and irreparable harm to the environment, including the vegetated dunes, exceptional freshwater wetlands, freshwater wetlands transition area, and a critical wildlife habitat with threatened or endangered species at this location, court documents showed.

Rosenello said as far back as 2020, North Wildwood has built stretches of a bulkhead (about 2,000 feet) on the beach in the same area without DEP authorization. He added that in the past decade, the city has dedicated about $20 million of taxpayer money for sand replenishment projects and other coastal protection efforts amid stronger storms resulting from climate change.

I dont think I have lived through a January through May period where there werent multiple noreasters so this dune is as good as gone, the mayor said. Its not a question of if this dune is going to fail and flood the city. Its a question of when.

Besides a nearby lifeguard station that is at risk of damage during a fierce storm, Rosenello said the citys sanitary system is vulnerable without the bulkhead. Its especially needed in North Wildwood, where he claims experts inform the city has seen the highest rate of beach and dune erosion of anywhere in the state since the mid-1990s.

In the spirit of partnership, we again remind the city that taking perceived self-help measures, including the destruction of dunes or other regulated coastal resources, the unauthorized installation of bulkheads, or other regulated activities without required DEP review or permits, is a violation of the states environmental laws, some of which carry severe monetary and other penalties, reads a Dec. 1, 2022, letter from Commissioner Shawn LaTourette, which was provided by the DEP.

One alternative offered by the state in the letter is a massive U.S. Army Corps of Engineers project but that has yet to offer protection in North Wildwood and remains years away from being built, Rosenello said. Another, suggested by the city, would transfer sand from the Hereford Inlet Borrow Area or another location outside of Wildwood to bolster protection. But without funding thats also not possible, the DEPs commissioner noted.

So North Wildwood, Rosenello said, plans to take matters into its own hands.

This is absolutely critical, he said, and were going to take this through the legal system as far as we have to.

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com.

Steven Rodas may be reached at srodas@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @stevenrodasnj.