Sandwich Neighbors File Injunction To Stop Beach Nourishment Project

CCB MEDIA PHOTO
The dunes of Town Neck Beach in Sandwich are carved from severe erosion.

SANDWICH – Beachfront neighbors in Sandwich are split on a town project to place 150,000 cubic yards of sand dredged from the Cape Cod Canal on Town Neck Beach.

The deal to put the sand on the beach almost collapsed when a group of neighbors refused to sign permanent easements that the Army Corps of Engineers said was necessary to place the sand on the bay front properties.

But at the eleventh hour, town officials were able to keep the beach nourishment project alive by using Community Preservation funds and placing the sand only on town-owned property.

Now the neighbors that refused to sign the permanent easements have filed an injunction to stop the project, saying the town is acting out of vindictiveness by not placing the sand on their properties.

CCB MEDIA FILE PHOTO
State Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs Matthew Beaton poses on September 21 with a large-scale $1 million check to go toward beach nourishment at Town Neck Beach. Standing with him are the five members of the Sandwich Board of Selectmen, Town Manager George “Bud” Dunham, State Representative Randy Hunt, State Senator Vinny deMacedo and US Congressman Bill Keating.

Another neighborhood group, the Trustees of Sandwich Beaches, is speaking out strongly against the injunction.

Laura Wing, president of the Trustees group, said, “They did not act out of vindictiveness or spite against a few town residents that refuse to sign permanent easements. This topic was brought up several times in that document that it was a vindictive act on the part of the town.”

Wing said, the accusation of wrong-doing on the part of town and state officials “is an insult to so many people who have worked so hard to save our town” and “a complete misrepresentation of the facts.”

She said, if the injunction succeeds and the sand is dumped in Cape Cod Bay instead of placed on the town beach, “no one will benefit. This is the worst outcome for all parties involved and a complete waste of a precious natural resource.”

A Land Court judge is scheduled to hold a hearing about the injunction on Friday, October 2, and 2 p.m.

By LAURA M. RECKFORD, CapeCod.com News Editor