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64
Are they putting that dirt on the beaches of Watercolor, Seaside, & Seagrove? Is this just taking place at Blue Mountain? I hope the citizens can get this STOPPED! It's a shame.
The only place I've seen soil that dark is at the BMB access and the home directly adjacent to the east in the photos.
Smiling JOeSmiling JOeSoWal Expert31,643 postsJoined View profileMessageSoWal Expert
Smiling JOeSoWal Expert31,643 postsJoined View profileMessageSoWal ExpertSome photos from today - 7/30/05Did that bulldozer turn over?
http://www.sowal.com/photos-073005.html
Did that bulldozer turn over?
It was on its side and he coaxed it back up. I'd bet he's rolled more than once.
BeachDreamerBeachDreamerBeach FanaticThe Peaceful Piney Woods.444 postsJoined View profileMessageBeach Fanatic
BeachDreamerBeach FanaticThe Peaceful Piney Woods.444 postsJoined View profileMessageBeach FanaticDid that bulldozer turn over?
He's poppin' a wheelie.
BeachDreamerBeachDreamerBeach FanaticThe Peaceful Piney Woods.444 postsJoined View profileMessageBeach Fanatic
BeachDreamerBeach FanaticThe Peaceful Piney Woods.444 postsJoined View profileMessageBeach FanaticAre they putting that dirt on the beaches of Watercolor, Seaside, & Seagrove? Is this just taking place at Blue Mountain? I hope the citizens can get this STOPPED! It's a shame.
Unfortunately, once it's washed out to sea with the first big storm, it will be spread all over 30-A.
SallySallyBeach Fanatic654 postsJoined View profileMessageBeach Fanatic
SallyBeach Fanatic654 postsJoined View profileMessageBeach FanaticHurricanes' Lesson: Don't Build on the Beach
by Orrin Pilkey and Andrew Coburn
A record four hurricanes this season have crossed Florida, but the results are not new. Beaches on the few remaining natural barrier islands have not only survived, they are as healthy as beaches always are after storms. The natural barrier islands of Florida, like those everywhere, require hurricanes to provide sand in order to survive while sea levels continue to rise. But it is a different matter on developed islands, where we see promises of cash and a huge outpouring of sympathy for storm victims, including those who owned buildings immediately adjacent to beaches.
In the chaos of the storms' aftermath, we sympathise with beachfront property owners as much as we do with those whose homes were destroyed inland. But what could be more irresponsible than building next to an eroding beach that is subject to frequent major storms - particularly since the sea level is rising at a rate of about a foot per century along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts? The storms not only caused major damage to buildings along the beach, but also quantitatively wiped away artificial beaches all over Florida and Alabama. Replacing the beaches will likely be paid for by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and will cost in excess of $100 million during the next few years. Hasn't the time come to look at beachfront development more closely?
The long record of storm damage should have provided a clue to beachfront-property owners. For example, the Florida Panhandle and Alabama coast were hit hard by Hurricanes Frederick (1979), Opal (1995) and now Ivan. What we discovered from Frederick and Opal (and Hugo in 1989 and Fran in 1996) is that hurricanes are urban-renewal projects. New buildings that replace damaged buildings are bigger and more costly. The attitude is, why not rebuild and in a big way, because the federal, state and local governments will be there waiting to help if there's another storm.
Take Gulf Shores, Alabama, where the beach was replenished with federal funding in 2001 and again after Tropical Storm Isidore in 2002. This year, the federal government will be there again with more money and more sand. We are spending a huge amount of money to save the property of a very few people.
The price society is paying for beachfront development will only go up, and each storm will make this point again. But there are some things we can do:
If we do replenish, then require communities to prevent the construction of big buildings next to the beach, so we can maintain some degree of flexibility in responding to a rising sea level in the near future.
Pumping sand on a beach is environmentally damaging. Every critter in the sand is killed. One of the most telling events during Ivan was the reduction in property damage along a stretch of Alabama shoreline where two rows of dunes had been retained, all because of an endangered beach mouse. The mice saved buildings by forcing the preservation of the dunes. Elsewhere in Alabama and Florida, dunes were removed to increase the sea view and building sites.
Americans must learn to look at their shorelines with a long-term view. To do this, we must step away from the politics of greed and honestly debate the future of our beaches for our great-grandchildren.
Orrin Pilkey is the James B Duke professor emeritus of earth sciences and author of A Celebration of the World's Barrier Islands and How to Read a North Carolina Beach. Andrew Coburn is associate director of Duke University's Program for the Study of Developed Shorelines.
Source: USA Today Wednesday 29 September 2004
by Orrin Pilkey and Andrew Coburn
A record four hurricanes this season have crossed Florida, but the results are not new. Beaches on the few remaining natural barrier islands have not only survived, they are as healthy as beaches always are after storms. The natural barrier islands of Florida, like those everywhere, require hurricanes to provide sand in order to survive while sea levels continue to rise. But it is a different matter on developed islands, where we see promises of cash and a huge outpouring of sympathy for storm victims, including those who owned buildings immediately adjacent to beaches.
In the chaos of the storms' aftermath, we sympathise with beachfront property owners as much as we do with those whose homes were destroyed inland. But what could be more irresponsible than building next to an eroding beach that is subject to frequent major storms - particularly since the sea level is rising at a rate of about a foot per century along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts? The storms not only caused major damage to buildings along the beach, but also quantitatively wiped away artificial beaches all over Florida and Alabama. Replacing the beaches will likely be paid for by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and will cost in excess of $100 million during the next few years. Hasn't the time come to look at beachfront development more closely?
The long record of storm damage should have provided a clue to beachfront-property owners. For example, the Florida Panhandle and Alabama coast were hit hard by Hurricanes Frederick (1979), Opal (1995) and now Ivan. What we discovered from Frederick and Opal (and Hugo in 1989 and Fran in 1996) is that hurricanes are urban-renewal projects. New buildings that replace damaged buildings are bigger and more costly. The attitude is, why not rebuild and in a big way, because the federal, state and local governments will be there waiting to help if there's another storm.
Take Gulf Shores, Alabama, where the beach was replenished with federal funding in 2001 and again after Tropical Storm Isidore in 2002. This year, the federal government will be there again with more money and more sand. We are spending a huge amount of money to save the property of a very few people.
The price society is paying for beachfront development will only go up, and each storm will make this point again. But there are some things we can do:
End the sympathy for beachfront-property owners and recognise foolish acts for what they are.
Encourage the removal of destroyed and threatened buildings and replace them with natural dunes.
Stop charging federal and state taxpayers for replenishing beaches.
Encourage the removal of destroyed and threatened buildings and replace them with natural dunes.
Stop charging federal and state taxpayers for replenishing beaches.
If we do replenish, then require communities to prevent the construction of big buildings next to the beach, so we can maintain some degree of flexibility in responding to a rising sea level in the near future.
Pumping sand on a beach is environmentally damaging. Every critter in the sand is killed. One of the most telling events during Ivan was the reduction in property damage along a stretch of Alabama shoreline where two rows of dunes had been retained, all because of an endangered beach mouse. The mice saved buildings by forcing the preservation of the dunes. Elsewhere in Alabama and Florida, dunes were removed to increase the sea view and building sites.
Americans must learn to look at their shorelines with a long-term view. To do this, we must step away from the politics of greed and honestly debate the future of our beaches for our great-grandchildren.
Orrin Pilkey is the James B Duke professor emeritus of earth sciences and author of A Celebration of the World's Barrier Islands and How to Read a North Carolina Beach. Andrew Coburn is associate director of Duke University's Program for the Study of Developed Shorelines.
Source: USA Today Wednesday 29 September 2004
CastlesOfSandCastlesOfSandBeach Fanatic2,486 postsJoined View profileMessageBeach Fanatic
CastlesOfSandBeach Fanatic2,486 postsJoined View profileMessageBeach FanaticJust sent my two cents worth via email! Good luck! Keep us posted.
BeachDreamerBeachDreamerBeach FanaticThe Peaceful Piney Woods.444 postsJoined View profileMessageBeach Fanatic
BeachDreamerBeach FanaticThe Peaceful Piney Woods.444 postsJoined View profileMessageBeach Fanatic"We are spending a huge amount of money to save the property of a very few people."
Those are cold hard facts, but they are facts nevertheless. Same with trucking in "dirt". The beach belongs to everyone, and it is being risked in an attempt to save the homes of a select few. Any efforts to "fix" things will only be temporary, in any case. What a sad situation...
Those are cold hard facts, but they are facts nevertheless. Same with trucking in "dirt". The beach belongs to everyone, and it is being risked in an attempt to save the homes of a select few. Any efforts to "fix" things will only be temporary, in any case. What a sad situation...
rwtrwtBeach Crab1 postJoined View profileMessageBeach Crab
Great work to all for the quick response and efforts to save the beaches. I've sent e-mails to all of the public officials listed in this thread. Although I will not be there tomorrow, I will be down on Thursday and Friday to work on our house. If I can do anything at that time, I am happy to take some time out to do so while I'm down.
Is there a group to which I can contribute dollars that might aid in the fight?
Is there a group to which I can contribute dollars that might aid in the fight?
Miss KittyMiss KittyMeow47,011 postsJoined View profileMessageMeow
Miss KittyMeow47,011 postsJoined View profileMessageMeowGreat ? about contributions Boss. I had earlier made a little joke about sending $$$ for bail money in case there were arrests made when the good people of 30-A grabbed their shovels and hauled that s&#t off the beach. Let us know what we can do from afar. This feels as scary as watching the hurricanes close in...except this could have been avoided!
ShallowsNoleShallowsNoleBeach FanaticPt Washington4,279 postsJoined View profileMessageBeach Fanatic
ShallowsNoleBeach FanaticPt Washington4,279 postsJoined View profileMessageBeach FanaticOh My God. I have been out of town, and seeing these pictures makes me want to cry.
That is not sand. That is good, rich dirt that has many tasty, useful agricultural applications. Beach rebuilding is not one of them. Wait until it rains on it. :shock:
Surely there is some SAND somewhere that, if not white, would be better than that for the beach?
That is not sand. That is good, rich dirt that has many tasty, useful agricultural applications. Beach rebuilding is not one of them. Wait until it rains on it. :shock:
Surely there is some SAND somewhere that, if not white, would be better than that for the beach?
Kelley MayoKelley MayoBeach Comber5 postsJoined View profileMessageBeach Comber
It makes me really sad for all the locals who are watching this nightmare firsthand. Even I, the one-week-per-year-renter-who-knows-better-than-to-dare-to-walk-on-the-dunes am DEVASTATED by the prospect of our beautiful white beaches being contaminated by this brown sorry excuse for sand. Stand strong and don't back down. IT IS NOT ACCEPTABLE!
Edited
BobBobSoWal InsiderO'Wal10,368 postsJoined View profileMessageSoWal Insider
BobSoWal InsiderO'Wal10,368 postsJoined View profileMessageSoWal InsiderSome photos from today - 7/30/05I am literally praying that another tropical storm does not sends this dark sand up and down SoWal beaches. Those who orchestrated this infill are the definition of evil.
http://www.sowal.com/photos-073005.html
Edited
DBOldfordDBOldfordBeach FanaticNapa Valley, CA990 postsJoined View profileMessageBeach Fanatic
Always follow the money and what a sad tale this is. First, I do not understand why acceptable "white" sand is not available in Walton County, when we see huge snow-white sand beaches created in Hawaii and even in a number of developing nations that have resort development.
A County Commissioner with a contracting business engaged on South County beaches should not be voting at all on issues effecting those beaches. It is an obvious financial conflict of interest. City and County Attorneys do not usually advise elected officials about conflicts unless they are specifically asked by that individual for a ruling. Someone needs to bring this question up as a formal request, that is, for the County Legal Counsel to make a determination. This usually involves a determination from the State of Florida, as well. This is a request that can be made to the County Administrative Officer, but probably needs to be made in writing.
Also, asking other County Commissioners "if they have a problem with" one doing work while serving on the Commission is considered polling those elected officials outside a public forum. It is illegal, a violation of the State's Sunshine Act.
When I was growing up down there, I remember County Commissioners who actually rented construction equipment to the County or had large contracts with the County and they never missed a vote. In my summer job, I helped process their invoices. I had rather hoped things had improved with time. Who owns this pit where the brown dirt is coming from? Who is the contractor excavating and depositing the dirt? Any financial gain possible from such activities constitutes an obvious and blatant conflict of interest.
This is making me angry. I wrote my letters and cc'd to everybody on the list provided (thanks mucho). Now I am wishing that I had flown down there to attend the meeting tonight. What a sad state of affairs.
Walton County should have a requirement for a grading plan and erosion control plan when work is done on or in proximity to the dunes. This would cover the importing of sand/dirt and also cover putting in retention walls or sea walls. There is already a big debris problem when walkways wash out. I guess in future cleanups, we'll have chunks of concrete and iron rebar poles. On some South Walton beaches, the inclusion of sea walls will essentially remove the beach for any public use. The public will only get to pick up the bill when disaster strikes.
A County Commissioner with a contracting business engaged on South County beaches should not be voting at all on issues effecting those beaches. It is an obvious financial conflict of interest. City and County Attorneys do not usually advise elected officials about conflicts unless they are specifically asked by that individual for a ruling. Someone needs to bring this question up as a formal request, that is, for the County Legal Counsel to make a determination. This usually involves a determination from the State of Florida, as well. This is a request that can be made to the County Administrative Officer, but probably needs to be made in writing.
Also, asking other County Commissioners "if they have a problem with" one doing work while serving on the Commission is considered polling those elected officials outside a public forum. It is illegal, a violation of the State's Sunshine Act.
When I was growing up down there, I remember County Commissioners who actually rented construction equipment to the County or had large contracts with the County and they never missed a vote. In my summer job, I helped process their invoices. I had rather hoped things had improved with time. Who owns this pit where the brown dirt is coming from? Who is the contractor excavating and depositing the dirt? Any financial gain possible from such activities constitutes an obvious and blatant conflict of interest.
This is making me angry. I wrote my letters and cc'd to everybody on the list provided (thanks mucho). Now I am wishing that I had flown down there to attend the meeting tonight. What a sad state of affairs.
Walton County should have a requirement for a grading plan and erosion control plan when work is done on or in proximity to the dunes. This would cover the importing of sand/dirt and also cover putting in retention walls or sea walls. There is already a big debris problem when walkways wash out. I guess in future cleanups, we'll have chunks of concrete and iron rebar poles. On some South Walton beaches, the inclusion of sea walls will essentially remove the beach for any public use. The public will only get to pick up the bill when disaster strikes.
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