Dan's Papers - August 1, 2008

Peconic Baykeeper has teamed up with Save the Beixedon Beach Group in a lawsuit against the Town of Southold's Board of Trustees.

The two groups are calling for the annulment of a permit issued by the trustees that will allow John Nickles to reconstruct two jetties that extend into Southold Bay at the entrance of Petty's Pond located near his beachfront property in Quogue. Because of their size, the jetties will reportedly cause the erosion of downdrift beaches by interfering with the natural transport of sand.

"The science regarding the effects of shoreline hardening is clear cut," said Kevin McAllister of Peconic Baykeeper. "It adversely impacts natural shorelines that are essential to the overall health of our estuaries."

McAllister says that when Nickles applied for permission to reconstruct the jetties - which were last reconstructed in the 1970s and were a failure because of wear and tear from storms - the trustees had an opportunity to correct past mistakes. "Regretfully, the trustees chose, instead, to ignore the obvious, contradict the recommendations of the Peconic Estuary Program's Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan and mismanage public resource," he said. The failure of the jetties in the '70s actually reestablished the natural transport of sand. If the jetties aren't reconstructed, the Beixidon community beach will eventually be recovered because of that sand flow.

"The Southold Town Board has recognized the poor policy of the past when modifying the trustee administered wetlands law to prohibit these types of structures; the trustees need to follow that law," added Matthew Atkinson, counsel for Peconic Baykeeper.

Southampton Town has passed a new green law to make sure newly constructed homes and pools, as well as homes with substantial reconstruction, are more energy efficient. The Town has chosen to adopt the strictest energy-efficiency requirements in New York State - requiring solar heating for pools, imposing standards for back-up heat sources and mandating that homes of all sizes meet strict scores on the Home Energy Rating System scale.

The largest homes will be hit the hardest by the new law. While the average home of 3,500 square feet or less must get an HERS score of 84 to be considered an Energy Star home, mammoth houses - 6,500 square feet and more - must score a 95 out of 100.

Despite some protest from residents, the Board of Trustees passed the legislation at its June 22 meeting. However, the board said that after some more review, necessary adjustments could be made to the law in the future.

During this past weekend of weather-related chaos, more than half a dozen people either drowned or went missing in what the National Weather Service called rip currents from "long period" waves produced by winds out of the south.

Two deaths occurred in Hampton Bays. On Friday at Sand Bar Beach, police recovered the body of Gardy Pierre Jacques, 25, of Lake Grove. Jacques and friend Paul Rodden, 24, of Centereach had been standing in the water when a massive wave struck, dragging them into the undertow, and pulling them farther out to sea. While Rodden was able to swim back to shore and call for help, Jacques's body was pulled from the water and he was pronounced dead at Southampton Hospital.

Farther west, on the same day in Long Beach, two cousins, Fahad Zahidid, 22, from Valley Stream, and Osama Shafeeq, 19, from Levittown, had been playing football in the water when they were knocked over by a wave. Despite lifesaving efforts, Zahidid could not be rescued although his body was recovered, and he was pronounced dead. A vigil was held on the shores of Long Beach on Saturday as family and friends prayed for the return of Shafeeq.

On Saturday in Coney Island, rescuers frantically searched for the body of Akira Johnson, 10, who was seen playing on the rocks with cousin Tyriek Johnson, 10, when riptides carried the girl off to sea. A team of lifeguards managed to pull Tyriek to safety, but the rescuers were not able to reach Akira. Two blocks away, two hours later, a 35-year-old swimmer was pulled from the waves. He was rushed to Coney Island Hospital in critical condition.

The majority of the deaths occurred after hours at beaches that were not manned by lifeguards. Combined with that risk is the intensity and complex nature of rip currents. The United States Lifesaving Association has issued a list of tips, explaining how to survive riptides. First, they recommend swimming only when a lifeguard is on duty. According to the Association, the risk of drowning at a guarded beach is one in 18 million. Also, if caught in a riptide, swim parallel to the beach until out of the current, then walk or swim back to shore. Another unknown fact: "muddy" ocean water is most likely an indicator of a rip current, so beware at all costs.