Crowd in Montauk Calls for Halt to Beach Project

Several hundred people attended an East Hampton Town Board meeting in Montauk on Tuesday morning to ask for a halt, at least temporarily, to the construction of a downtown beach sandbag seawall by the Army Corps of Engineers, after ongoing protests and civil disobedience since Friday that have drawn attention to widespread opposition to the project. Seven people were arrested, three on Friday and two each on Monday and Tuesday mornings, for disorderly conduct after refusing to leave the beach work zone where contractors have excavated dunes and are digging up sand.

Of 38 speakers at the Tuesday meeting, which was moved from the Montauk Firehouse to the Montauk Playhouse because of the expected crowd, all but a couple told the board that the $8.9 million federal project, through which sandbags will be piled to make a 15-foot high wall stretching for 3,100 feet along the shore, is not the solution to protecting imperiled waterfront buildings and Montauk's downtown. The structure will actually result in loss of the beach through accelerated erosion, opponents argued.

Many urged the town board to "hit the pause button," and have the work, by a contracting company hired by the Army Corps, suspended while further community dialogue and decision-making takes place. The project has been the subject of public discussion for more than three years, but many in the community were unaware of the plan or had not grasped its scope until work began recently on the beach.

In an exchange marked by civility and expressions of mutual respect, Town Supervisor Larry Cantwell responded to speakers, telling them that yesterday he had called both the Army Corps and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, which is a partner in the project, to inquire about the legalities and repercussions of the town asking those agencies to suspend the work, either for now or for good. Once those answers are obtained, he said, the town board will discuss the situation.