Jul 9, 2008 at 8:32 AMBarrels and Rocks
When voters at the spring town meeting defeated a proposal to fund the familiar green trash barrels that dotted the beachscape curve, some residents predicted that Hull’s “carry in-carry out” trash policy would result in beaches overrun with garbage.
Thus far, most of those predictions have not come true. In fact, during a survey of the beach this past weekend, residents and visitors found it to be remarkably tidy.
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| Rocky road – Although the town cannot remove rocks from the beach, residents have found ways to make the path to the water easier to navigate. [Lucy Wightman photo] |
Town Manager Philip Lemnios committed with conviction that a barrel ban would work. Observations during a walk from Allerton to Nantasket this weekend supported his prophecy, albeit under less-than-ideal weather conditions.
“The bottom line is, the crews used to go down and haul off a 10-yard truckload of trash on a given day, and now they are doing the entire beach with a one or two bushel basket maximum,” sewer plant manager Edward E. Petrilak, who is also acting public works director, said this week. “Today, for example the crew went down to the beach at 5 a.m., and normally they would have been there all day. Instead, they freed up at 9 a.m. and we were able to redirect them to other work. It is definitely working. It is amazing how little trash there is.”
But after hosting a Brighton High School 50th reunion planning weekend, their concern was all about the rocks.
“The beach is really not usable unless it is low tide,” Geri Abbott said. “Some people have called Garrett Bradley and even written in to the state, but nothing is changing, other than people seem to be creating their own adaptations. The DEP will probably come force them to remove these, too. Then what?”
They were not the only beach users springboarding from trash to rocks. One mother, Krista Handon, lives beachside with her small children and was hosting two visiting mothers from out of town this past weekend. She recalls growing up here and having the beach as a daily playground.
“Now the kids are in watching television all day long if the tide is up, which is not why we bought a home on the ocean,” she said. “I just don’t think it is fair that kids fall and get hurt on the rocks. They can’t even play outside on the beach.”
“The town is managing our beaches consistent with local and state beach management plans. Hull is in compliance with federal law which, of course, impedes our ability to change the beach contour,” Lemnios said when asked about the rocks.
Helen Waldorf, a Hull resident who recently after decades working for the state Department of Environmental Protection, explained that “the hydrodynamics of a coastline are complex, and the rocks act as a break to erosion. A beach should stabilize naturally without adaptation.”
Waldorf referred to Massachusetts General Law, Chapter 131, Section 40, which outlines in detail the steps needed when proposing changes to any of the Commonwealth’s coastline. Just as the idea of beach alteration is hatched, one is required to file notice with the appropriate conservation commission and the DEP. The written application must explain how the proposed alterations are in the service of repair, maintenance and/or replacement to existing public utilities and structures. Furthermore, applicants must specify how the proposed plan of action will impact the environment.
The battle lines over rocks have long been drawn in the sands of Nantasket Beach.
Last year, the town asked the local conservation commission for permission to cover or remove the rocks, but those officials rejected the request and instructed the town to hire a coastal geologist to study alternatives. The town also is under threat of a $100,000 fine after an anonymous official whistle-blower reportedly alerted the state Department of Environmental Protection that Hull was using heavy machinery to clear the beaches of seaweed and debris.
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