Proposed Expansion Of Geotubes At Sconset Bluff Clears Key State Regulatory Hurdle

A proposal to expand the geotube installation along the Sconset Bluff has cleared the Massachusetts Environmental Protection Act review process, advancing the project closer to full state approval. But facing a sharply critical report from the state’s office of Coastal Zone Management and mounting damage from a partial collapse of the existing portion of the erosion control project, which may be the result of vandalism, the expansion still has a difficult road ahead of it.

“While information gaps still remain, I am not requiring an [environmental impact report] and am instead allowing the project to proceed to further permitting before [Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, MassDEP], where more precise site plans and documentation will be provided,” the decision reads in part. “As noted in MassDEP comments, the Proponents will be required to provide further documentation at the end of Phase 1 work to confirm the extent of impacts based on as-built conditions.”

The determination means that the Sconset Beach Preservation Fund won’t have to file an environmental impact report, which will significantly speed up the timeline for state review, skipping a number of steps that can sometimes drag on for over a year.

“This determination reflects the extensive environmental review that has already taken place,” said Meridith Moldenhauer, representative for the Sconset Beach Preservation Fund. “SBPF will continue working closely with its experts, the Town, and state agencies to address comments received and to provide any additional information required as part of the MassDEP permitting process.”

But the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection could still rule against the expansion, which has been plagued by lawsuits and SBPF’s inability to meet regulatory demands for mitigation sand.

Another state agency, the office for Coastal Zone Mangement, recently finished its review of the expansion and said that the project should be “reevaluated,” citing a number of alleged deficiencies. That review could weigh on the state’s ultimate decision.

The Nantucket Coastal Conservancy, a local conservation group opposed to the installation, emphasized that the fight will continue and that the expansion still needs voter approval at Town Meeting to continue.

“Our concerns are rooted in documented harmful impacts, including the accelerated erosion of Nantucket’s eastern shoreline, the complete loss of the fronting beach, the existence of less destructive alternatives, and the burden on our community posed by the thousands of truckloads of sand required for construction and mitigation of the proposed expansion,” the Nantucket Coastal Conservancy said in a statement. “Fortunately, the final decision rests with the voters at Annual Town Meeting. No construction is allowed on our public beaches without voter approval, and the citizens of Nantucket have repeatedly voted — by supermajority margins — that we want to preserve and protect our beaches, especially our public ones.”

The ruling also doesn’t account for the recent partial collapse of the existing geotubes, which SBPF says is the result of vandalism.

In a partially redacted police report obtained by the Current, the geotube manufacturer says that “the damage caused to the geotextile tube structure was, without any doubt, caused by malicious vandalism with the sole intent of causing a structure failure.”

The police report indicates that the geotubes were likely intact on January 19th, narrowing the timeframe during which the alleged vandalism may have occurred. Judging from the report, the police do not currently have any leads.

In the report, an unidentified representative of SBPF says that the damage is likely “millions of dollars.”

At this time, it’s not clear if the damage poses an immediate threat to Baxter Road.

The geotoube installation along the bluff, initially installed in 2014 after a series of storms ripped away large chunks of the beach, has been deeply controversial from the beginning. While there are no known documented instances of vandalism associated with the geotubes in 'Sconset, they have come under fire from a number of local advocacy groups and sparked intense pushback from members of the community over concerns that the installation could increase erosion along the beaches on either end of the array and require vast amounts of sand to properly maintain.

The geotubes are long geotextile bags filled with a slurry of sand and water that are designed to prevent erosion of the cliff face by buffering and redirecting wave action. Installed to protect the homes perched on the bluff above, the project has kept Baxter Road passable, forestalling an expensive relocation plan that could eventually require tens of millions to move the homes and utilities along the road farther from the water below.

The town of Nantucket is partnering with SBPF on an expansion of the erosion control project, which is included on the warrant for this spring’s Annual Town Meeting. But the expansion has hit several snags, including lawsuits from island residents and SBPF’s long history of failing to deposit required sacrificial sand on the existing geotubes, which would mitigate any impacts on the beaches adjacent to the array.

The proposed 3,000-foot expansion was approved by the Conservation Commission last March after years of debate that saw the Select Board purge Conservation Commission members critical of the project after a removal order for the existing project was issued in 2021. Town Meeting approval may not be easy to obtain this spring, given the existing opposition.