$10,000 Reward Offered In Alleged Sconset Geotube Vandalism Case

The Sconset Beach Preservation Fund is offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of a suspect responsible for the alleged vandalism that caused the partial collapse of the erosion-control geotube installation along the Sconset Bluff.

SBPF first claimed that the collapse was caused by deliberate vandalism in response to questions from the Current on the morning of February 2nd, after videos and images circulated on social media over the weekend showing a large portion of the geotextile fabric tubes sagging toward the water. In the weeks since, SBPF has been amassing evidence that the damage, which consists of long, straight, clean cuts along the bags, was caused intentionally.

Former Boston police commissioner Ed Davis, who now runs a business strategy and security services firm, recently completed a review of the damage and concluded that “based on the evidence reviewed, the clean, linear cuts are consistent with a premeditated and willful act of vandalism.”

“This was in no way an accident or the result of natural forces,” he said.

When asked who hired him to investigate the collapse, Davis declined to answer. SBPF has publicized the investigation and facilitated the Current’s conversation with Davis, but has not explicitly claimed to have hired him.

Davis’s review was largely based on an existing review conducted by the geotubes’ manufacturer. Speaking with the Current by phone Tuesday, Davis said that he has no prior experience with coastal engineering or geotube failure and referred questions about the specifics of the collapse to the manufacturer.

However, he said that his lengthy police experience made it “clear” that the damage was caused by vandalism, likely someone slashing open the geotubes with a knife, and was not consistent with natural degradation.

The geotubes, long fabric bags filled with a slurry of water and sand, have long been controversial, though there are no known previous instances of vandalism. Intended to protect Baxter Road and the homes located along it from the rapid erosion of the bluff below, they have successfully forestalled the need for a costly relocation plan and allowed residents to continue accessing their properties. But SBPF has long been significantly behind on supplying regulatorily mandated mitigation sand, which is meant to blunt the impacts of the coastal engineering structures on the beaches to either side. Some evidence shows that those beaches are now eroding faster as a result, spurring further opposition.

SBPF is partnering with the town of Nantucket on a proposed expansion of the installation, which is currently bogged down in lawsuits and state-level environmental review. Even as the partial collapse of the existing installation has unfolded, the expansion has grabbed headlines as state agencies begin to issue opinions on its merits.

While the expansion did clear a key regulatory hurdle last week when the state certified that it passed Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act review, it still needs approval from the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, which will weigh a sharply critical report from the office of Coastal Zone Management.

Records reviewed by the Current show that the police have made little progress in their efforts to identify a suspect in the alleged vandalism, but SBPF hopes the reward will change that.

“This is not just damage to a private project, it is damage to critical coastal protection infrastructure that helps stabilize the bluff and public property,” Meridith Moldenhauer, a representative of SBPF, said. “We take this matter extremely seriously and will continue to work with the Nantucket Police Department as they continue their investigation.”

At this point, it’s unclear how immediate any threat to the bluff could be. Neither SBPF nor the town have responded to questions on the topic, leaving a high degree of uncertainty hanging over the bluff as winter storm season continues.