North Wildwood is suing the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection over the suspension of a $54 million plan that would have replenished sand on its eroded beaches.
The lawsuit, announced Wednesday by North Wildwood Mayor Patrick Rosenello, accuses NJDEP's leaders of failing "catastrophically" to resolve months of tension over the project that was to be led by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Leaders in Wildwood, North Wildwood, Wildwood Crest and Lower Township had missed a September deadline to come to a final agreement about the scope of the project on Five Mile Island.
"This collapse rests squarely on the shoulders of NJDEP leadership," Rosenello said in a statement Wednesday.
NJDEP Commissioner Shawn LaTourette wrote a letter to the mayors of all four communities last Friday explaining that the Army Corps suspended the project due to a lack of support and cooperation from Wildwood and Wildwood Crest.
"While my DEP colleagues and I regret that local support could not coalesce around the existing and fully funded Project, we stand ready to assist your communities should alternative measures materialize," LaTourette said.
For years, severe erosion on North Wildwood's beachfront has deposited excess sand on the shores of Wildwood and Wildwood Crest. The beach replenishment project, which had been in the works since 2017, called for the Army Corps to take sand from Wildwood, Wildwood Crest and Diamond Beach to create a series of protective dunes along the full stretch of Five Mile Island between Hereford and Cape May inlets.
Leaders in Wildwood and Wildwood Crest pushed back against the project, arguing the work would shrink their own beaches and negatively impact tourism.
Rosenello claims NJDEP should have exercised its legal authority to enforce the terms of the project in each community or else assessed revisions that were proposed to overcome obstacles
"The agency's inaction here stems not from legal barriers, but from a lack of political will and bureaucratic negligence," Rosenello said.
Wildwood Crest Mayor Don Cabrera said Monday that his town never withdrew from the project.
"We asked for revisions to ensure the plan better aligns with our community’s needs for beach enjoyment and environmental priorities …" Cabrera wrote in a Facebook post. "I believe that, with greater collaboration and flexibility, reasonable adjustments could have been made."
North Wildwood has a history of legal fights with NJDEP, which once fined the city $12 million for undertaking its own emergency beach restoration projects without state authorization. The two sides reached a settlement last year dropping the fines and resolving an earlier lawsuit in which North Wildwood had sought $30 million from the state to reimburse its past replenishment costs.
The Army Corps project was supposed to begin next spring. It had already received congressional authorization to be fully funded at 65% from the federal government and 35% from the state with no contribution from local taxpayers. About $2.4 million had already been spent on planning and designing the project before LaTourette said the Army Corps pulled the plug. Funds that had been earmarked for the project will be diverted to other coastal protection projects in New Jersey.
In his letter last week, LaTourette said a new study is underway that will explore the feasibility of using offshore sand sources to fortify beaches on Five Mile Island. He said that type of project likely would be more expensive and cautioned against any guarantee that it would receive congressional authorization and funding. U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R), whose 2nd district covers the Wildwoods, said last week he will work with the Trump administration to secure a new project that provides long-term funding for beach replenishment.
North Wildwood's lawsuit, filed in the Superior Court of New Jersey, seeks to compel NJDEP to fulfill its obligations under state law. The city is again seeking millions of dollars in reimbursement for its past beach replenishment expenses and now claims the state is also on the hook for the $54 million in lost funding to protect New Jersey's coastline.
"Only through the courts can we now extract the justice and protection that NJDEP leadership has willfully withheld," Rosenello said.