DEP
Commits Funding for Lower Cape May Meadows and Cape May
Point Environmental Restoration and Beach Fill Project
Agreement Signed with Army Corps of Engineers
(03/104) Cape May Point State Park
-- New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner
Bradley M. Campbell today signed an agreement with the U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers to begin a joint $15 million environmental
restoration and protective beach fill project in Lower Cape
May Meadows and Cape May Point.
"Governor McGreevey continues to make
shore protection funding a top priority to ensure proper
stewardship of our natural resources," said Commissioner
Campbell. "This project will support the recreation
and tourism that drive the region 's economy, while enhancing
our coastal ecosystem for migratory and resident bird populations."
A $25 million allocation is included in
the recently adopted State Fiscal Year 2004 budget to fund
beach fill and nourishment, dredging, environmental restoration
and beach repair work required after storms. New Jersey's
shore tourism industry contributes upwards of $16 billion
to the state economy, employing hundreds of thousands of
people.
"I am grateful to Senator Corzine
and Congressman LoBiondo for fighting for full federal funding
for this innovative restoration and protection project,"
said Commissioner Campbell. "Cape May State Park and
the Cape May Migratory Bird Refuge are clearly national
treasures--viewing areas for numerous bird species and also
an internationally significant coastal wetland along the
Atlantic Flyway."
Commissioner Campbell signed a Project
Cooperation Agreement with Lt. Col. Thomas C. Chapman, Commander
of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Philadelphia District,
that commits DEP and the Army Corps to perform the work
beginning September 2003. Management of 95 acres of phragmites
is the first of several ecological restoration actions planned
in Lower Cape May Meadows that will be followed by dune
restoration work.
"Partnership and teamwork are what
makes the Corps of Engineers the premier public engineering
organization that it is and I am confident that the Philadelphia
District, in partnership with the New Jersey Department
of Environmental Protection, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
the Borough of Cape May Point and the Nature Conservancy
will achieve the project's goals of protecting and restoring
Lower Cape May Meadows for future generations," said
Lt. Col. Chapman.
The environmental restoration plan also
includes: planting of 18 acres of dune vegetation; seaward
restoration of 35 acres of previously eroded emergent wetland;
planting of 105 acres of emergent wetland vegetation; restoration/creation
of drainage ditches t o restore flow and link hydrological
segments of the project area; installation of water control
structures; creation of deep water fish reservoirs within
existing ponds; and, construction of a shallow earthen water
retaining structure and a self-regulating tide gate at Cape
Island Creek to allow for a 25 acre tidal marsh.
The protective dune and berm restoration
project involves 2,372,000 cubic yards of sand extending
1.9 miles from the 3rd Avenue terminal groin in Cape May
City to the Central Avenue groin in Cape May Point. Periodic
nourishment of 650,000 cubic yards of sand is required approximately
every four years.
Lower Cape May Meadows consists of a 1.3
mile long, 350 acre area of undeveloped oceanfront land
containing Cape May Point State Park and the Cape May Migratory
Bird Refuge, which is owned by the Nature Conservancy. These
freshwater wetlands are one of the most important migratory
stopovers in the world for birds of prey, shorebirds, songbirds,
and waterfowl as well as an important breeding area for
both rare and common birds. Estimates include about 60,000
raptors and over 1,000,000 seabirds migrate through this
area each year. Lower Cape May Meadows has been severely
impacted by shoreline that has left the existing freshwater
ecosystem substantially degraded through saltwater intrusion
and drainage pattern alteration. Breaching of the dunes
at the Meadows also causes flooding to Cape May Point, West
Cape May and Lower Township.
Initial construction is estimated at $15
million and an additional $4 million will be required every
four years for the periodic nourishment. The 50-year project
cost is estimated at nearly $75 million.
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