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Wednesday, May 22, 2013

By Steve Myrick
Published: July 30, 2009

A draft engineering report concludes that the East Chop bluffs, among the Vineyard's most recognizable and popular scenic spots, from land and sea, display signs of distress and do not meet minimum stability standards.

The report's recommended solutions to stabilize the bluffs and protect them from catastrophic storms could cost as much as $10 million.

Public and private stakeholders are at work to resolve legal issues that now prevent the town from seeking state and federal funds to repair the coastal bank.

"If we have a storm, it's going to cost us millions of dollars to fix it, means we don't have," said Craig Dripps, president of the East Chop Association. The private property owners association owns the bluffs.

Unstable and vulnerable

The engineering report, prepared by Deere & Ault Consultants, working with CLE Engineering, analyzed the coastal bank using drill borings, historical records, and visual observations to determine the stability of the bluff. Funding for the engineering was approved in the form of a $40,000 appropriation approved by voters at a 2006 special town meeting. The report says the wave breaking riprap constructed around the base of the bluff, is in fair condition, but that the upper slope is in poor condition, with numerous eroded gullies and areas bare of stabilizing vegetation.

"Rapid deterioration with significant erosion may occur if waves start to overtop the heavy riprap wave break and contact the bottom of the upper slope," said the engineers in their report. "Periods of heavy rain (i.e. a 25-year storm) may also destabilize local areas of the slope." The report recommends that if those conditions occur, local traffic should be restricted to the westbound lane of East Chop Drive, and heavy trucks should not use the roadway.

The roadway was closed for more than a year following Hurricane Bob, in the fall of 1991. That storm caused significant erosion, which was repaired by building the wave break around the base of the bluff, funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). But that repair has failed to stop long-term deterioration of the coastal bank, and left it vulnerable to a hurricane force storm, according to Mr. Dripps.

"Unfortunately, it went to the lowest bidder, and we got what we paid for," Mr. Dripps said.

The report suggests four basic engineering solutions for the eroding bluff. One option would be to "armor" the slope with heavy riprap or pre-cast concrete blocks. Another would be to add rock fill to the top of the wave break, and fill behind it to reduce the angle of the slope. A third option would be to construct a stabilizing wall of pre-cast concrete blocks at the bottom of the slope. A fourth option is called sheet piling. In this solution, sheets of reinforced steel would be driven vertically into the top of the slope, and anchored into the more stable soil at the top of the coastal bank. The slope could then be reshaped and stabilized with plants. Joan Hughes, chairman of the Oak Bluffs conservation commission (CONCOM) , said this option might be the most affordable, with the least negative impact.

"If we had a really major storm, even if some of the sand at the top left, the sheet piling and rocks would still be there, and you could replace the sand," said Ms. Hughes.

Public road, private bluff

An unusual confluence of public and private stakeholders on East Chop complicates funding for any solution.

The East Chop Association owns about 25 acres of property on the narrow peninsula, including the bluffs. The association's main purpose is to oversee and maintain its properties.

The town of Oak Bluffs owns East Chop Drive, the much used roadway that runs along the top of the bluff. Obviously, the future of the separate properties is closely related.

"In order to save the road you have to save the bluff," Mr. Dripps said. However, as a private organization, the East Chop Association is not eligible to receive government funds for repair the coastal bank, he added.

"The best chance of getting money, and we're looking at big money, is for a municipality to apply," said Ms. Hughes.

At a recent meeting of the East Chop Association, Ms. Hughes shared the draft engineering report with members, and discussed a solution that could give the town an ownership interest in the bluffs, so it could apply for state and federal funds to fix it.

Though no decisions have been made, Mr. Dripps said a consensus of the community is forming around a plan to transfer ownership of the bluffs to the town, in exchange for strict conservation restrictions to preserve it forever.

"We're all pretty comfortable with the transfer," Mr. Dripps said. "The conservation commission has a good track record. We wouldn't be adding parking, we wouldn't be adding any structures, it would remain the way it is." He said the next step is for attorneys and conservation specialists to draw up a formal proposal for consideration. Such a transfer would most likely require an act of the state legislature.

Political scene

Both Ms. Hughes and Mr. Dripps are wary of the volatile political atmosphere surrounding repair of the town's various beaches and coastal banks.

The CONCOM has often been at loggerheads with selectman Kerry Scott, chairman of the Sea View Waterfront Committee, over various projects and funding authorization. (See "Sea View rehab effort hobbled; official criticized," Martha's Vineyard Times, June 4, 2009.)

The study, though still preliminary, is one of several engineering projects underway to determine how to restore the town's crumbling coastal infrastructure.

"What we're trying to do is treat the entire coast as a single system, which is the only logical way to do it," said Ms. Hughes.

A draft of the East Chop engineering report was submitted to the CONCOM in October of 2008. Ms. Hughes said though she discussed the draft in March of this year, it was not formally presented to selectmen, because the final report is not complete.

"It's hardly a secret," said Ms. Hughes. "When we have to make choices on various alternatives, the engineers will present it. It wouldn't do much good to ask me questions."