"The corps would have monitored it if 

 they (the town) had demanded it," he says. 

 "They should know where the sand is 

 going to, how turbid the water is." 



Most parties — including the corps 

 — agree that the material being placed on 

 Atlantic Beach contains more silt and is 

 not as coarse as might be desired for a 

 nourishment project, resulting in more 

 displacement and turbidity. It's also a 

 larger disposal project area than has been 

 typical along the state's coast. The 

 material is actually coming from two 

 sources — the harbor deepening and Brant 

 Island, a dredge disposal site that is being 

 emptied. And there have been some 

 surprises, such as the large pieces of 

 plastic liner 

 from the 

 spoil island 

 that were 

 spewed 

 onto the 

 beach and 

 into the 

 water 

 during the 

 early stages 

 of the 

 project. 

 Also, the 

 amount of 

 available 

 sediment 

 was 



overesti- 

 mated; there 

 will actually 



be about 2.5 million cubic yards of 

 material on the beach by the projected 

 completion date of mid-February or 

 March. Payne says original projections 

 had included nourishment for 3 miles of 

 Pine Knoll Shores. The fill will probably 

 fall short. 



A project in 1986 to dispose of 

 almost 4 million cubic yards of dredged 

 sediment on a stretch between Fort Macon 

 State Park and the recreational area known 

 as The Circle at Atlantic Beach also had 

 some undesirable results. The sediment 

 widened the beach to 250 feet in places, 

 virtually landlocking the community's 

 three public fishing piers. 



"You could walk out to the water and 



look back on the end of the pier," says 

 Sportman's Pier owner David Bradley, 

 who says he suffered a substantial loss of 

 income the next three years. Even though 

 this year's disposal is taking place west of 

 the piers, the surrounding turbid water kept 

 some customers away during the close of 

 the pier's season in November. 



"When the waves break, instead of 

 the white foam, it looks chocolatelike," 

 Bradley says. 



Payne says the negative impact on the 

 fishing piers was unfortunate and led the 

 town to specify placement of this new 

 material westward, from The Circle 

 toward Pine Knoll Shores. Also, the 1986 

 sediment contained a lot of clay and 



Scotl D. Taylor 



Pipes feed a slurry to Bogue Banks. 



mudballs and a high shell content. But 

 there was a proverbial silver lining, says 

 Payne. 



"The upside was that the material was 

 more resistant to wind erosion. It also 

 seemed to be very condusive to the growth 

 of beach grasses," he says. In addition, a 

 local group added sand fencing along the 

 length of the project area, which helped 

 establish dunes. 



"The feeling was very positive," says 

 Payne. It was that satisfaction that buoyed 

 the town when a repeat offer came along. 



"Atlantic Beach saw an opportunity 

 that they thought wouldn't cost them 

 anything," says N.C. Sea Grant Director 

 B.J. Copeland. "And it may not if they're 



lucky. The bad news is that when their 

 income goes down from people who may 

 have been fishing there, this may hurt." 



Copeland, whose background is in 

 estuarine ecology, says the effects of 

 dredged sediment disposal should be 

 carefully considered. 



"The Corps of Engineers aren't the 

 culprits here," says Copeland. "They're 

 being hired by a sponsor, the Ports 

 Authority, which wants to have its harbor 

 deepened. Atlantic Beach was a partner 

 too, whether they knew that or not. They 

 could've said, in return for us letting you 

 put your spoil out here, you're going to 

 have to monitor its impact because the 

 beach and the fishing are real important 



to us, and 

 we aren't 

 going to 

 let this 

 happen 

 unless 

 we also 

 understand 

 what is 

 happening. 

 Then per- 

 haps we 

 would learn 

 something." 



Payne 

 agrees that 

 it would be 

 good to have 

 some data on 

 this project, 

 but says the 

 stabilized beach was triumph enough. 



"We essentially trusted whatever the 

 corps said," he says. "Had we had prob- 

 lems with dying turtles on the beach and 

 fish kills, then that would be another 

 thing." 



He added that the project appeared to 

 have only a "temporary effect on the 

 amount of fish that came in close to shore." 



Even in the face of gloomy fisheries 

 projections, the obligation to protect 

 property is a clear priority, says Payne. 



"Should we abandon beach nourish- 

 ment because of concern for a year or two 

 of beach fishing ... or some mole crabs?" he 

 says. "Just to walk away from it as an 

 option is simply not practical." 



18 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 1994 



