Questioning the Science Behind New York's Storm Proofing Plans for Fire Island

Graham T. Beck writes of scientific opposition to plans by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and the state’s congressional delegation to spend $207 million dredging sand off of New York’s Fire Island to spread along beaches and dunes.

An ambitious plan, to be sure, but Robert S. Young, professor of coastal geology and the director of the Program for the Study of Developed Shorelines at Western Carolina University, argues that the plan might not even work. Professor Young is quoted in the story: "The project does not provide the storm damage mitigation and storm-surge protection that is promised, or at least the U.S. Geological Survey comments on the plan question the science behind those proposed benefits."

Young claims that the comments on the plan also include concerns that the project might do more environmental harm than good from the Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Audubon.