Old Navy Base Debris Cleanup To Begin In January At Tom Nevers Beach

Nearly two years after the Conservation Commission issued an enforcement order mandating the town of Nantucket to clean up debris from the abandoned Navy Base at Tom Nevers beach, and five years after the town first began to work on the project, debris removal is finally about to begin.

Work is slated to begin in January and last around two months. Much of the debris currently on the beach and in the bluff face will be removed, and a ramp will be installed to allow for beach access to facilitate further debris removal in the future. The ramp will not be a public access point.

Three successive storms in the span of 10 days in late 2023 and early 2024 caused significant erosion that exposed more of the abandoned Navy base - a relic of the Cold War that operated from 1957 to 1976 - including a large sewage tank, huge chunks of concrete, wires, pipes, and other debris.

Town Meeting approved $2 million in funding for the project at the 2024 Annual Town Meeting. After a lengthy delay caused in part by a storm that badly damaged the beach, work is now ready to begin, and some preliminary fencing is already being installed.

“We're happy to be able to move this important and, I would almost say, long overdue project forward, which, obviously, was quite complex to get to this point,” Department of Public Works director Drew Patnode said.

It was the December 2023 storm, which exposed a significant amount of debris, that prompted the Conservation Commission’s enforcement order.

Phase two of the project, which will involve reconstructing the multi-use Tom Nevers playing court and will continue debris removal at the site, is expected to be on the Annual Town Meeting warrant this spring. Phase two will cost around $8 million, funding that the town will likely seek at the May 2026 Annual Town Meeting and will require a two-thirds majority vote, as well as approval on the ballot.