At the end of December, the town of Scarborough submitted an application to the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), to receive a permit that would allow them to replace the existing sea wall at Higgins Beach. Currently the town’s application is under review and pending approval.

The town received a $200,000 grant from FEMA after large sections of the wall fractured during the Patriots Day storm in 2007. Because of the current disrepair of the wall, Scarborough is hoping to replace the entire wall with a new wall, rather than repair parts of the structure that has become so defragmented.

The total cost of the replacement wall project is estimated at $650,000. The entire FEMA grant would be used, and the town would pay the remaining $450,000. Town Manager Ron Owens said the town would need to bond the $450,000, pending voter approval.

The sea wall has been in existence since FIND OUT and spans approximately 750 feet, from Pearl St. to the Breakers Inn. The rock wall was put up initially in 1992 and has had repeated maintenance over the years, but only for short term solution to the problems of erosion and rising water levels. Cement was poured over the rocks as a protective barrier to seal the cracks.

“It wasn’t a sea wall that was put in, it was a collection of rock that was put down with cement over it to act as a stop-gap,” Owens said. “It was not engineered to handle future storms over a long-term period.”

Lending to erosion is the problem that there is no new sand supply to replace the sand that has been lost, causing the beach to recede faster while also exposing the sea wall to even more damage from waves. Steve Dickson, marine geologist at the Maine Geological Survey in Augusta, has been reviewing the Scarborough sea wall application with his team, and plays a vital role in the inter-agency consulting that is done to provide information to the DEP. (OTHER COMPANIES REVIEWING? WHAT KIND OF INFO PROVIDED?)

Dickson hoped his team would finish their review of the application this week to send to the DEP. “There are some concerns and suggestions for items that need to be more clearly spelled out. The town and Deluca Hoffman need to address these concerns before they receive a permit. Ultimately, the DEP will determine whether the proposal complies with all of their environmental laws,” Dickson said. (WHAT IS THE LAW?)

Dickson also added that the sea wall can only be repaired or replaced if the new wall is less damaging than the previous one to the environment, due to a law that was passed by the DEP in 2006, requiring all structures that are rebuilt to be “more environmentally benign” than previous structures.

“The town proposed rebuilding the wall to be closer to DEP standards, and with more of a terracing barrier to better withstand erosion,” Dickson said.

The town council, DEP, and Deluca Hoffman, the Portland engineering company in charge of the project, met with the Maine Geological Survey and Maine Department of Conservation twice in 2007. Along with the DEP law mentioned, these groups determined how the wall would affect bird nesting and other local habitats.

According Town Manager Ron Owens, the goal is for the sea wall to be rebuilt in the spring of 2008. “We’ve been given preliminary approval from the DEP, who told Public Works that we can move forward with the planning and cost estimates,” Owens said. “There will be final adjustments before the council provides approval so that the appropriations committee can move forward with the work this spring.”

Currently, a storm drainage project is being undertaken in the Higgins Beach neighborhood, in effort to replace storm drains and resurface roads. The drainage project cost over $1 million and was approved two years ago.

“The goal is for the new sea wall to be done before June,” Owens said. If the application for a permit to replace the wall is refused, Owens said they will go ahead with the repair and push the replacement out to 2009, pending approval. “This replacement will be a substantial improvement from the existing wall. The plan is to bring it as close to state regulation standards as possible,” Owens commented.

WHAT ARE THE STATE STANDARDS?

The Town Council will discuss the status of the sea wall project and its pending permit at the next meeting on Jan. 16th .