King, Clinton Announce Start of Jones Inlet Dredging
Join State Senator Dean Skelos, State Assemblyman Harvey Weisenberg,
and Supervisor Kate Murray

January 11, 2008

For Immediate Release
Contact Carol Danko
202-225-7896

Point Lookout, NY – Congressman Peter King (R-Seaford) and Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) join State Senator Dean Skelos, State Assemblymen Harvey Weisenberg, and Supervisor Kate Murray today in announcing the launch of the Jones Inlet dredging project. This long-overdue project is needed to remove the sand that has worn off the shore and filled the inlet, making navigation unsafe for boaters and leaving the shoreline vulnerable to storms. The dredging will begin as early as this afternoon, and will be completed by the end of February 2008. 

“After years of fighting for this project, I am thrilled to see that we have finally achieved a victory,” said King. “This is truly a great day for the citizens of Point Look, the Town of Hempstead, and everyone who enjoys these waters and beaches.”

“This is a great day and a long awaited victory for the Point Lookout community,” said Clinton. “There has been a very real need to address the dangerous conditions in Jones Inlet for some time, and I am glad that our efforts to work with the Army Corps to resolve this issue have been successful. With this dredging project we are not only ensuring the safety of our recreational and commercial boaters, we are also taking a key step in protecting the area’s beautiful beaches.”

The project will be funded with the $7.6 million in state funds secured by Skelos and Weisenberg. While the use of state funds is unprecedented in federal projects, the State of New York and the Army Corps of Engineers executed a Contributed Funds Memorandum of Agreement (CFMOA), which permitted the project to proceed. King and Clinton worked with both parties to encourage prompt negotiations in order to ensure that the project would be completed by the April 1, 2008 deadline.

King and Clinton have also secured $3.7 million for Jones Inlet in the FY2008 Omnibus Bill that was recently signed into law. Any excess federal funds will be carried over or reprogrammed within the appropriate guidelines or as approved by Congress.

For the next 35 days, the dredge “Illinois” will work around the clock, dredging at a depth of 14 feet to clear the estimated 650,000 cubic yards of sand that has accumulated in the basin since the last dredging in 1995. The dredge will collect the sand and pump it through pipelines back onto Point Lookout’s beaches. The sand pulled from the basin will be used to rebuild dunes and raise and extend the shoreline. The maintenance dredging will allow recreational and commercial vessels to access protected backbay waters, including the Long Island Intracoastal Waterway and Great South Bay from the Atlantic Ocean.

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