The stalled beach replenishment work in Beach Haven and Holgate is set to get underway within the next two weeks, federal officials say.
LONG BEACH TOWNSHIP -- A beach fill project that stalled when work crews left last winter for other jobs is set to get underway within the next two weeks on southern Long Beach Island, federal officials said.
Three dredges from Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Co. are due back off the southern Ocean County barrier island between April 7 and 10 to resume the beach replenishment work it abandoned in December to the distress of local and state officials.
The company is already staging equipment on the beach and in the ocean in preparation for the work, which should be completed in late June, said Stephen Rochette, spokesman for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Philadelphia district.
Rochette said the work will first start in Beach Haven and then continue on to the Holgate section of Long Beach Township - the southern tip of the island that was devastated by Hurricane Sandy in 2012 and then battered by subsequent winter storms.
Beach replenishment for southern LBI stalled again
Great Lakes, based in Illinois, worked last fall at replenishing beaches on the island but stopped work in December to take on jobs in other parts of the country.
The move angered state and local officials, who said the company left communities - particularly Holgate - extremely vulnerable heading into the winter, when storms tend to be more frequent and more destructive.
State Environmental Protection Commissioner Bob Martin also blamed the Army Corps' procurement process for the delay, saying the federal government's contracts do not hold its subcontractors to specific deadlines.
Despite the very public complaints and a spate of letters from officials urging them to continue the work on Long Beach Island, Great Lakes refused to return until March or April.
In the meantime, Long Beach Township has dumped about 35,000 cubic yards of sand on the beaches in Holgate this winter to shore up the coastline ahead of several winter storms. Mayor Joseph Mancini said the state picked up the tab for the sand while the town was responsible for paying for labor and equipment provided by municipal work crews.
The DEP could not immediately provide a figure on the cost of the sand.
Great Lakes will be taking sand from a site 3 miles offshore to pump onto the beaches. Additionally, the Army Corps is seeking to use sand dredged from Little Egg Inlet at the southern tip of the island for the work in Holgate.
However, Rochette said it is uncertain whether the Corps will obtain the environmental approvals in time for the start of the project to use the inlet as the borrow site for the Holgate work.
MaryAnn Spoto may be reached at mspoto@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @MaryAnnSpoto. Find NJ.com on Facebook.