White House, Congressional Delegation Survey Hurricane Sandy Damage in South Kingstown

Members of the state Congressional delegation were joined by the White House's Hurricane Sandy Task Force on Monday to survey erosion on South Kingstown's south shore and hatch a plan to protect the community.

Storm surges caused by Hurricane Sandy last fall further deteriorated already threatening erosion conditions across the Matunuck and Green Hill shoreline. Beaches along the south coast are disappearing the waterline to creeping closer to local businesses, homes and vital public infrastructure.

"We have a team of people working on smart longterm and short term solutions in terms of decision making," said Janet Coit, director of the state Department of Environmental Management. "The challenge is to protect the resilience of the coast and the natural areas and decide what is key infrastructure that needs to be fortified and preserved maybe not in the short term, but in the long term."

South Kingstown's initial move toward warding off the encroaching waters is to fortify the shoreline near the Ocean Mist on Matunuck Beach Road. The goal is to protect the roadway because it houses a waterline that carries the vital resource to more than 1,800 South Kingstown homes.

The projects would install corrugated metal sheet pilings along a 202-foot stretch of roadway west of the Ocean Mist. Large five-ton boulders - or riprap - would then be placed over the sheet pilings to ward off the rising tides and fortify the road against erosion. Town Manager Stephen Alfred said the project could cost up to $1.5 million, the state Department of Transportation committed $1.2 million to the project in grant.

So far the town has removed eight utility poles from the area to allow for large work vehicles and heavy machinery to get into the area and perform the necessary construction. Council President Ella Whaley said the town would likely go out to bid for contractors in August.

"This is a longterm commitment," said Sen. Jack Reed during the mid-morning tour. "We are understanding what to do in the future to assist all communities along the south coast and to make sure we are resilient because we anticipate more changes to our beaches."