March 15, 2010

DEP EXPERTS KEEP CLOSE EYE ON NEW JERSEY’S SHORELINE, DAM SAFETY FOLLOWING STORM

New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection experts surveyed the state’s coastline and dams to determine the impacts of a four-day storm that brought heavy rain and high winds to much of the Garden State. Following are highlights of the findings, and links to detailed inspection reports are provided:

Coastal inspection highlights

• The four-day Nor'easter, with sea heights of 22 feet, surf heights to nine feet and wind gusts as high as 60 mph as reported by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, caused extensive erosion to beaches in Ocean County and Monmouth County, with numerous vertical cuts to the dunes particularly in Keansburg, Sea Bright, Long Branch, Surf City, and Long Beach Township.

• Four houses are undermined in the North Beach section of Long Beach Township, and the municipal engineer is assessing the situation.

• Atlantic County and Cape May County also have had erosion of the beach berm, although the most significant erosion to the berm and dunes was localized and most prominent in North Wildwood, Ocean City and Cape May City.

• The DEP’s Bureau of Coastal Engineering will respond to any municipal requests for further assessment of beach conditions and shore protection needs.

View the Coastal Storm Survey and Damage Assessment for the March 12-15, 2010 Storm (pdf)

Dam safety inspections

• The DEP received notification from several dam owners and offices of emergency management about problems or concerns with dams on Sunday, March 14.

• Two teams of engineers inspected 12 dams in Sussex, Morris and Hunterdon counties on March 14, in response to reports of overtopping and other known problems in the area. 

• All dams with reported problems were inspected by the DEP. One dam was confirmed to have a partial failure (Lake Shawnee Dam, Jefferson Township), and several dams had minor erosion from overtopping flows. 

• No injuries or property damage have been reported as a result of the incident at Lake Shawnee.   

• Four teams of engineers are currently inspecting High and Significant hazard dams in Sussex, Morris, Passaic and Union counties. Thirty-nine dams have been or will be inspected today; of these 6 dams, which were assessed on Sunday, were inspected again. 

• At the current time, no major problems or additional incidents have been identified. The DEP has determined that several dams have sustained minor erosion damage from overtopping flows, in addition to those identified yesterday.

• Any dam that has sustained damage in the weather event will be ordered to retain a professional engineer to evaluate the damage and recommend appropriate repairs.

View the DEP Dam Inspection Update (pdf)