In race against rising seas, Bayshore towns get millions for seawalls, dunes and beaches

UNION BEACH — More than 10 years have passed since Superstorm Sandy ravaged Union Beach, tore apart homes and flooded hundreds of structures in the borough.

But the historic flood levels are evidenced by homes that tower over yards below. Some stand 8 to 12 feet off the ground and many can only be accessed by long, twisting staircases.

Only Monday, the borough streets were dry under a bright blue sky, as U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began work to build a more resilient beachfront.

But any day, officials say another Sandy-like storm could return and flood this low-lying community.

"We are in a race against time with respect to (storm) events that are occurring," said Michael Connor, assistant secretary of the Army of Civil Works, a division of the Army Corps of Engineers.

"We know that extreme weather will not only return, but it's likely to return with even more force than you experienced in Hurricane Sandy," he told a crowd gathered in Fireman's Park to mark the start of the resilience project.

The Army Corps started this $50 million project to replenish the borough's beach, build beach groins to reduce erosion, and erect dunes and berms that will help slow violent waves and prevent flooding in the event of a coastal storm.

The work will include dumping 607,000 cubic yards of sand on the beachfront, according to Borough Administrator Robert M. Howard Jr.

"There will be three pedestrian walk overs (and) one vehicle access point along the project," he said earlier this month.

The work is the first phase of a $395 million multiphase project in Union Beach. The work will take years to complete, but surround this community with levees, flood gates, pump stations and other protective structures.

Union Beach Mayor Charles W. Cocuzza told the Asbury Park Press earlier this month that the coastal resilience project was first discussed around 1995, after the nor'easter of 1992 left behind millions of dollars in damage across New Jersey.

"Union Beach does not have currently any flood protection," he said. "It's not as though we have something to build off of."

Now, 28 years later, the flood protection project is finally beginning to break ground.

Many of the delays were due to the necessary paperwork requirements of federal, state and local bureaucracies, Cocuzza said. Other delays could be caused by the work of securing Congressional funding needed to move multimillion-dollar engineering and construction projects to fruition.

Rep. Frank Pallone Jr., of New Jersey's 6th Congressional District, said the federal Disaster Relief Fund helped to pay for part of phase 1 of the Union Beach project. The borough became the "poster child" for Sandy damage when partially demolished Union Beach homes were displayed on the front pages of newspapers across the country in the storm's aftermath, he said.

New Jersey Sen. Bob Menedez said the Sandy Improvement Recovery Act of 2013 also helped to fund the project.

The federal government is covering 65% of the cost of the borough's project, with state, county and local authorities sharing the bill for the remainder, Pallone said.

Once the entire $395 million project is complete, the entire town will be "enveloped," he said.

"We used to talk about the 100-year storm, and then it was the 500-year storm and the-1000 year storm, but the 1000-year storm now… can happen anytime," said Pallone. "We are going to do what we can here and in the rest of the Bayshore towns where we have these projects, because they're so important to build up the infrastructure."

Related:Beach replenishment during the Jersey Shore summer tourist season? Why it might happen

Across the Bayshore, additional Army Corps projects are taking place in:

• Port Monmouth: A new levee and flood wall will be erected this year by the Army Corps. A road-raising project is also underway along with pump station construction.

• Highlands: The Army Corps is beginning the design phase of a flood risk management project. In Highlands, 880 structures remain at risk of severe flooding, according to Army Corps project descriptions.

• Keansburg: An Army Corps feasibility study is underway to consider options to protect a vulnerable portion of the borough. The study will consider the impact of dunes, flood walls, flood gates and levees.

Other Bayshore towns will not be receiving Army Corps protections in the near future.

In Keyport, where higher elevations protect many of the borough's structures, costs for protective projects would outweigh the benefits, Army Corps spokesman James D’Ambrosio told the Press last month.

In the Leonardo section of Middletown, an Army Corps feasibility study found home elevations were the most effective solution to protect residents, according to D'Ambrosio.

Related:Kean University to help Keyport with erosion, pollution research

Infrastructure is not the only tool to protect Jersey Shore residents from storm risks, Pallone said. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions is another key component of reducing risk, he added.

Last year, Americans across the country experienced seven 1-in-1,000-year weather events, said Connor of the Army of Civil Works. Florida experienced record storm surges, the western United States experienced record drought, and California received historic levels of rainfall, he added.

"There's an urgency here that we all need to understand, and to press forward and complete the (Bayshore protection) projects," Connor said.

"Regardless of your feelings about global warming or climate change or rising sea level, we saw what happened," said Cocuzza, the Union Beach mayor. "We experienced what happened firsthand."

Phase one of Union Beach's project is expected to finish by November. When the second phase of the project will begin remains uncertain.

"To get to phase two, there's design work," said the Union Beach mayor. "They have to take some core samples. And then of course, you have all of the legal work that goes into it… It's not as simple as just coming up with machines and building walls."

Cocuzza said the final Union Beach project may not be finished for another 10 years or more. Pallone said securing additional federal funding for the next phases remains a work in progress.

Amanda Oglesby is an Ocean County native who covers Brick, Barnegat and Lacey townships as well as the environment. She has worked for the Press for more than a decade. Reach her at @OglesbyAPP, aoglesby@gannettnj.com or 732-557-5701.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: NJ Bayshore towns get millions to battle rising seas, extreme storms