The sandstorm being waged between New Jersey environmental officials and a defiant shore town bolstering its dunes without state permission is intensifying
The state Department of Environmental Protection said Thursday that it has fined North Wildwood over $12 million for past construction actions along its beachfront, including the destruction of vegetated sand dunes and wetlands, as well as the unauthorized construction of a bulkhead and beachfront amenities including showers and walkways.
“Clearly these fines were a retaliatory move after we filed suit against the DEP,” Mayor Patrick Rosenello said. “They created this issue by not doing their job, then when we moved to protect ourselves, they retaliate against us. It really is just one more indication that this whole matter has to be resolved in front of a judge and not through the DEP's administrative procedures.”
It used the same argument in October to make emergency repairs to its dunes two blocks from the earlier work, defying a state prohibition on such work. The state warned that doing the work the city wanted to do — and eventually did — could further damage the beachfront and damage or destroy critical wildlife habitat and coastal ecosystems.
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