4.4 BEACH STABILIZATION 



The expansion of coastal communities causes expansion of residential, 

 commercial, and transportation projects at the beachfront and an increase of 

 proposals for construction of seawalls, groins, or other stabilization and 

 erosion prevention structures. Any plan that requires the construction of 

 beach stabilization structures is given the closest scrutiny because these 

 stabilization measures are often ineffective, sometimes counterproductive, 

 and typically can be avoided if nonstructural protection measures are used. 

 Solutions include placing structures well inland of the active part of the 

 shore and taking positive action both to prevent the removal of sand from 

 any storage element (dune, ridge, berm, or beach) and to prevent blocking 

 the free movement of sand from any storage element into active transport 

 via such processes as littoral drift. Further protection includes dune and 

 berm management employing such measures as sand fences, and dune grass 

 planting. In this way, structures which obliterate ecologically valuable 

 dune and backbeach habitats can be avoided and the loss of beaches can be 

 prevented. 



4.5 SITE PREPARATION 



Whenever urbanization occurs, new tracts of land are opened for 

 development. Construction of transportation systems, recreation facilities, 

 homes, schools, public utility works, and commercial sites all require 

 site alteration in one form or another. Many severe ecological problems of 

 new development occur at the stage of clearing and grading the land surface 

 before construction begins. During this clearing and grading, critical 

 wildlife habitats may be lost and stream courses altered. Removing the 

 natural vegetation exposes soils to the erosional forces of wind and water. 

 The unprotected soils may be eroded and washed into tributaries or directly 

 into coastal waters, where they degrade water quality and interfere with 

 biological processes. Site development processes frequently alter the 

 drainage system adversely by filling or draining marshes, bogs, and 

 swamps, and diverting, obliterating or channelizing natural drainageways. 

 Preventive measures include wetland, streambank, and watercourse 

 protection, critical habitat and buffer area preservation, runoff water 

 detention and soil stabilization. 



4.6 SITE DEVELOPMENT 



A large OCS facility could generate considerable site development 

 activity in a community short on facilities to provide for housing, 

 transportation, recreation, and commercial needs. Site development includes 

 activities that follow clearing and grading; such as, excavating ditches, 

 installation of cables and pipes, paving of surfaces, building bulkheads, 

 and erecting structures. Paved roads, parking lots, sidewalks, and other 

 impervious surfaces decrease the land's ability to retain precipitation, 

 cause surge flows of runoff, and thus adversely alter the quality, quantity, 

 and rate of flow of runoff from any watershed. The adverse impacts of 



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