Plans for Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Company, Oak Brook, Ill., to shift equipment off a New Jersey beach replenishment project is bringing pressure on the company and the Army Corps of Engineers from state officials, who say any delay will leave areas at critical risk from winter storms.
The dispute is part of a national picture – growing demand for shore protection, environmental and navigation projects that all compete for a limited pool of dredging contractors and equipment. With more federal resources going into storm protection and preparing for sea level rise, the shortage could become a bigger issue.
A year ago Great Lakes won a $128 million contract to widen the sands on Long Beach Island to protect towns that were heavily damaged by Hurricane Sandy in 2012. Work started last May, with a late phase planned for January into May 2016.
But with state officials still fighting some oceanfront homeowners to obtain construction easements so work can start in two of three remaining sections, the company is planning to redeploy dredges during rough winter weather.
“We’ve been informed they’re moving down to the South” to work on other projects, said Lawrence Hajna, a spokesman for the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, which partnered with the Army Corps for the post-Sandy rebuilding.
“But if the weather’s not good here, and we started getting nor’easters (storms), there could be significant damage,” Hajna said. “The bottom line is, they’re here, and the work needs to be done. It doesn’t make any sense to leave that area unprotected.”
Great Lakes did not return a call seeking comment. Under terms of the contract, Great Lakes will return in March with three dredges, and complete at least one section where easements are now in hand by May 23, said Ed Voigt, a spokesman for the Army Corps Philadelphia district office.
Meanwhile, the Great Lakes dredges will be at Kings Bay, Ga., and other government projects, Voigt said.
“The other jobs they’re going to get are Corps jobs,” he said. “It’s supply and demand. There are not many of them [contractors]. If we get three bids on a job, that’s very competitive.”
New Jersey DEP Commissioner Bob Martin took a hard line publicizing the dispute Wednesday, calling the proposed winter pause “unwarranted and irresponsible.”
“By suspending its Long Beach Island work, this company will expose lives, homes, businesses and infrastructure to severe winter storms. Their decision shows a callous disregard for the people of New Jersey,” Martin said. “I am calling on the Army Corps to step up to the plate and take strong action to ensure that all equipment remains on-site, and that this work moves forward as quickly as possible to protect the barrier island.”
Planned for years before Sandy hit, New Jersey beach replenishments have been plagued with delays and legal challenges – particularly the refusal by many beachfront property owners to sign easements allowing the Army Corps to maintain newly built dunes.
Those refusals continued even after Sandy flooded beach towns, and Gov. Chris Christie’s administration finally began taking property owners to court to obtain the easements. This year another court ruling further complicated the process, and forced the Army Corps to push back its deadline for the Long Beach Island work, Voigt said.
“If a contractor shows us a feasible path to completion, that’s what we have now,” Voigt said of Great Lakes’ plan to return in March. “Once we’re ready to go, we won’t delay.”
