Saturday, February 20, 2010

Storms Create Buzz on Erosion and Herbicidal Spraying


Really glad to see an article by Doug Fraser in the Cape Cod Times this morning entitled “NStar Spraying Sparks Outcry.” As many of you know, I feel very strongly about this matter and reprinted in this blog, yesterday, my Thursday letter to the editor of the Provincetown Banner. Opposition to herbicidal spraying did not disappear with the summer breezes, as NStar had hoped it would. Oh, no. Instead, there’s been an absolute storm of protest over the winter. That the major Cape Cod newspaper has started covering the issue again can only be seen as a positive development ...

Nature has been throwing ferocious storms at the coastline, too. Lots of erosion on Outer Cape beaches, so much so that the Truro Conservation Commission drew up new rules about sand fencing and drift fencing. What’s the difference? Sand fencing encourages wind-blown sand to pile up, whereas drift fencing “dissipates wave energy” and slows down the erosion process. (Got that? Me neither.) I wrote about the erosion at Ballston Beach January 10 & 11, and shortly thereafter NECN sent a crew down to Truro for an in-depth report. I know many of you are searching the Web for photos of the erosion, so Sven and I returned this week to take another look. The beach was higher than a month ago, in relationship to "Gil's house," which may tumble into the sea, above. We were both struck by the beauty of the fencing, although I’m not sure which type it was, and by the incredible wind-blown sand drifts ...