North Wildwood Installs Emergency Bulkhead After Severe Erosion

An extended period of stormy weather, rough surf, northeast winds and a full moon combined to cause severe beach erosion on the beaches of North Wildwood over the last two weeks.

North Wildwood Mayor Patrick Rosenello says that the city has received an emergency authorization from the state Department of Environmental Protection to install a bulkhead to give some immediate protection to 15th Avenue Beach Patrol headquarters, the area with the most damage.

Rosenello told 6ABC the $400,000 project should take about a week to construct.

The mayor says this beach erosion is the worst he has seen in North Wildwood in his lifetime.

This emergency funding does show progress in the troubled relationship between North Wildwood and the DEP.

North Wildwood was sued by the New Jersey DEP last year for defying a state order not to make emergency repairs to the dunes following several storms.

That dispute involved damage to some North Wildwood beaches last October, leaving huge chunks out of protective sand dunes.

The agency denied a request by the city to do emergency work to shore up the dunes, but the city did it anyway, prompting a December lawsuit from the state.

Then the city countersued, seeking $21 million it said had been spent in recent years on largely unsuccessful efforts to fortify its beach.

North Wildwood did some emergency emergency repairs to several dunes ahead of the Memorial Day holiday. But in early June, when crews did additional work, regulators issued yet another notice of violation.

Now, the state has authorized this emergency project to protect the beach patrol headquarters.

The Army Corps of Engineers and the NJ DEP say they are working on a project to build up the dunes in the Wildwoods, including North Wildwood. But that work could take as much as 2 years to complete.