A STORM OF CONTROVERSY 



OVER THE HATTERAS LIGHT 



The Cape Hatteras Lighthouse once 

 fended away ships from the perilous 

 crook in North Carolina's Outer Banks 

 shoreline. Today, it's a beacon to 

 visitors to discover our state's rich 

 nautical history. 



But its place in history may change, 

 literally. The surf has gradually taken 

 its toll on the foothold of the 208-foot 

 tower. Today, after 123 years of batter- 

 ing by wind and waves, all that is left 

 standing between the monument and the 

 ocean is about 150 feet of sand and a 

 buttress of sandbags. 



Sooner or later, Mother Nature or 

 the National Park Service will claim the 

 nation's tallest brick beacon from its 

 post. 



The Park Service, which owns the 

 lighthouse, has found itself in a storm of 

 controversy that could match any Outer 

 Banks northeaster in intensity. On one 

 side, groups such as the Move the 

 Lighthouse Committee argue for pulling 

 it back 1,500 feet from the shoreline. 

 Others, many native to Hatteras Island, 

 want the Park Service to continue 

 shoring up the coast and leave the 

 lighthouse on its original site. 



"I don't think you'd find a native, 

 by that people who live here and love 

 the lighthouse, who wants to move it," 

 says Carol Dillon, who owns nearby 

 rental cottages. "There's no way to 

 successfully move it. And they're only 

 doing it to see if they can." 



The Park Service has forged a plan 

 to move the lighthouse, but only when 



absolutely necessary. A relocation 

 would keep the monument safe for 100 

 years and re-establish it 1,500 feet from 

 the surf, its original distance from the 

 water before erosion claimed the beach. 



Mary Collier, management 

 assistant for the Park Service, says 

 Congress hasn't allotted the $8.7 

 million needed to move the lighthouse. 

 But the park is pursuing the funding 



SOONER OR LATER, 

 MOTHER NATURE OR THE 

 NATIONAL PARK SERVICE 

 WILL CLAIM THE NATION'S 

 TALLEST BRICK BEACON 

 FROM ITS POST. 



request. In the meantime, it is protecting 

 the monument with a 250-foot sandbag 

 buffer, repairing the buffer as needed 

 after storms and extending it. 



The Park Service has also asked the 

 U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to 

 inspect the southernmost of three groins 

 — walls built out from the shore to trap 

 sand — in front of the lighthouse to 

 gauge its stability and need for repairs. 

 A fourth groin may be built to the south 

 to help hold the beach in place. 



Once Congress grants the money 



for moving the lighthouse, no less than 

 three years will be needed to plan and 

 carry out the task, Collier says. 



This concerns proponents, who 

 argue that delaying the move will risk 

 the chance of a powerful storm sweep- 

 ing the sand from under the foundation 

 sooner than expected. And a stepped-up 

 emergency move will be costly, says 

 David Fischetti, president of Move the 

 Lighthouse Committee. 



Heavy erosion on islands such as 

 Hatteras is a natural occurrence, says 

 Spencer Rogers, Sea Grant's coastal 

 engineering specialist. Wave action at 

 Cape Hatteras, Cape Lookout and Cape 

 Fear erodes the east-facing shore and 

 deposits the sand on the south-facing 

 shore. Historically, such sandy capes 

 experience 15 feet of erosion per year, 

 Rogers says. 



But erosion is not an immediate 

 threat to North Carolina's other five 

 coastal lighthouses. 



At Hatteras, Rogers says, the groin 

 field is the only thing saving the 

 lighthouse today and keeping it stable 

 for the foreseeable future. And it's the 

 only thing saving the oceanfront 

 buildings in Buxton, he adds. 



A now-discarded alternative for 

 saving the lighthouse was to build a 

 seawall around its base. Eventually, the 

 sand would have eroded around the 

 revetment, possibly creating a small 

 island, Collier says. That project would 

 have cost $6.5 million. E 



Jeannie Faris 



COASTWATCH 9 



