Agencies still disputing who can open beaches 
As the search for more munitions continues on the beaches, 
By DONNA WEAVER Staff Writer, (609) 978-2015
Published: Friday, May 4th 2007

SURF CITY — There was no resolution Thursday as to which agency is taking the reins for reopening beaches in Ship Bottom and Surf City.
A spokeswoman for the state Department of Environmental Protection, or DEP, said the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has regulatory lead for the beach reopening and the corps' representative said it does not.

“We do not have regulatory authority over all the things that the DEP and EPA regulate; we are not the regulators,” said Keith Watson, Surf City project manager for the Army Corps of Engineers. The EPA is the federal Environmental Protection Agency.

Watson said it was agreed at a meeting April 20 that the DEP would be the lead regulatory agency for reopening the beaches.

A DEP spokeswoman said there will not be a regulatory lead from the NJ DEP in the effort to reopen the beaches.

“We've discussed this internally, and we don't know why the corps is insisting we take a regulatory lead,” said Elaine Makatura.
“That's news to us that they're not taking the regulatory lead. Then the beaches have to stay closed,” Watson said.

Watson said the corps is the lead agency for clearing the beach but they does not have the regulatory lead over opening the beaches.

Watson said the corps is going to send a letter from its district engineer to David Rosenblatt, its point of contact at the DEP, to find out if the DEP concurs with the reopening of the beaches.

After repeated phone calls, Rosenblatt was not available for comment on Thursday. 

“We can't open the beaches without their concurrence. We are not the regulatory lead,” Watson said. “We're all working to get the beaches open by Memorial Day because these beaches are going to be opened. We're not going away. We're not shirking our duty. We're going to be there.” 

For Lois Thomas, whose vacation is closer to the Fourth of July, bureaucratic confusion is not her concern — she is focused on her two children. Thomas has been vacationing on Long Beach Island for 41 years. This summer she and her husband and her two children planned to rent a home near the ocean on 24th Street in Surf City.

Most of the munitions were found in four or five different areas, but the bulk of the fuses were discovered between 17th and 24th streets, according to Watson.

“I simply do not feel safe having my children playing in the sands where most of the fuses were found,” Thomas said.

Thursday, Thomas called her real estate agent, Ray Procaccini Jr. of Island Realty in Surf City, to cancel her vacation. 

Procaccini told her that there were no items found on the beach that had the potential to explode, Thomas said.

The majority of these items have been determined to be dangerous ordnance, according to the corps. Only two items have been found that do not have the potential to explode, spokesman Khaalid Walls said.

The devices were manufactured in the U.S. prior to World War II and used during the war. According to a newsletter published by the corps, an ordnance disposal expert in the State Police Bomb Unit assessed that the items containing explosives had the potential to cause loss of limb, of eyesight and, under the right circumstances, to cause loss of life.

“They actually told me the things that were found cannot explode. I asked the Realtor can you promise me that? And he said yes, everything is going to be fine,” Thomas said.

Procaccini said the information he was given about the munitions came directly from the corps, who have an office located above Island Realty.

“They basically told me there was nothing to worry about and these things couldn't explode. They said not to worry,” Procaccini said. “We at our company feel like we're in the dark. I have called every one of my May tenants and asked them do you really want to come here? This is terrible.”

Procaccini said a woman recently canceled her rental and that he doesn't blame people for doing that.

“Absolutely, people have the right to know. The well-being of my tenants is first and foremost,” Procaccini said.

Several homeowners have called Procaccini and asked why their homes are not fully booked for the season.

“This is terrible. This is definitely hurting the rental market,” he said.

Thomas said she was not completely convinced by Procaccini Thursday evening. She said she plans to wait until Memorial Day to see if the beaches reopen.

Thomas said she simply does not trust the reasons the powers that be have for wanting the beaches open for Memorial Day Weekend. She said it reminds her of the opening scenes in Jaws.

“I don't trust where there is financial gain at risk, that those same powers that be have my best interest at heart. I'm still on the fence,” she said.
 
 
 
 

To e-mail Donna Weaver at The Press:

DWeaver@pressofac.com