Feud in the Wildwoods: Beach battle costs Shore millions in federal funds

🌊 A disagreement has killed a federal beach replenishment plan in the Wildwoods

🌊The towns clashed over where to get sand for the project

🌊U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew says he already has a new plan allowing the work to continue

A lack of cooperation between two of the three communities that make up the Wildwoods has cost it federal funding for beach replenishment, but one federal lawmaker is optimistic he has already found a workaround.

New Jersey Department of Environmental Commissioner Shawn LaTourette, in a letter to the mayors of Wildwood, North Wildwood, Wildwood Crest and Vilas on Friday, said that the Army Corps of Engineers will not proceed with the Five Mile Island project. It creates a continuous protective dune system across all four municipalities. The communities disagreed on where the sand would come from.

"Unfortunately, after years of costly engineering work and many attempts by DEP to resolve local disagreements, the project reached an impasse necessitating its termination," LaTourette wrote.

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Van Drew says fix already in motion for coastal protection

Rep. Jeff Van Drew, R-NJ, 2nd District, said, in a statement, the disagreement was anticipated and he successfully worked with the Trump Administration to change the requirement that sand from the Hereford Inlet not be used for replenishment.

"We successfully reversed that rule, which means this material can finally be used again. We are already well underway on the new project design. I provided funding for the redesign last year, and the Army Corps of Engineers is far along in that process," Van Drew said. "The overall shore protection project won’t change significantly. The key difference is that the sand will now come from Hereford Inlet instead of Wildwood and Wildwood Crest beaches."

The Republican said he will move quickly to make sure North Wildwood has the resources needed to protect North Wildwood and the Wildwoods for the long term.

Federal funds that had been reserved for the original project will instead be redirected to other Superstorm Sandy recovery efforts, according to LaTourette, as the funds can only be used for the project authorized by Congress.

The DEP will conduct a study to see if an alternative source of sand is available for a new project, but LaTourette would not offer any guarantees.

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