Shark River dredge

BELMAR — In an effort to remedy one of the worst shoaling episodes in the Shark River Inlet's modern history, the Army Corps of Engineers plans to dredge the channel in a 10-day operation to start over Memorial Day weekend, Rep. Frank J. Pallone Jr. announced Thursday.

"I hope the Army corps will also explore possible solutions to slow down the shoaling process in the future so that it isn't necessary to dredge the inlet several times a year," Pallone said in a written statement.

The inlet was last dredged in December. At the time, the corps excavated the channel between Belmar and Avon to a depth of 16 to 18 feet. But after local mariners complained in March that the waterway had filled in again, Pallone asked the Army corps to investigate. A subsequent survey revealed that the inlet had shallowed out to a depth of 8 to 10 feet.

Capt. Greg Markert of the Golden Eagle, a 100-foot party boat based out of Belmar Marina, said at some point the Army engineers are going to have to come up with a lasting solution. He said boat captains believe the entire mouth of the inlet has to be reconstructed to make it less susceptible to the influx of sediment that accumulates on the river bottom.

"I would think this is as bad as we've seen it," Markert said. "At low tide, (the water level) is exceptionally low at 6 to 8 feet . . . So if you have any type of weather like we've been having out of the east, northeast — and you have an outgoing tide — it creates a very large swell right there. And you know, part of the danger, obviously, is the boat getting caught down in the bottom of the swell and hitting their keel on the bottom."

In May 2006, shoaling in the inlet caused the Golden Eagle to strike a jetty as it was returning to port with 44 people aboard, resulting in some hull damage and minor injuries.

"A combined effort"
State Sen. Sean T. Kean, R-Monmouth, said his district office in Wall has received a number of complaints about the inlet. He spoke Thursday to Tom Creamer, chief of operations for the Army corps' New York office, about its emergency dredging plan.

The operation will begin May 25 and is scheduled for at least 10 days, Kean said.

Belmar Councilman William M. Merkler, a Republican, had appealed to Kean to get involved about a month ago, after a local boat captain approached Merkler for help.

"It was a combined effort from different government agencies and political sides that worked together to address this hazardous condition so quickly," Merkler said. "I will continue my efforts to not only address the existing shoaling, but to get to the real problem of why this is happening."

Mayor Kenneth E. Pringle and Councilman Matthew J. Doherty, both Democrats, credited Pallone's diligence and the Army corps' rapid response.

"Maintaining safe conditions in the inlet is extremely important to our commercial fishing fleet and recreational boaters, as well as to the hundreds of visiting boaters from outside the area who visit Belmar's marina each summer," Pringle said.

"As a boat owner myself who uses the Shark River Inlet, I know how serious this situation has become and I am glad to see Congressman Pallone and the Army corps act so quickly to resolve it," Doherty said. He also serves on the Belmar Harbor Commission.

Timing could be better
Kean said he was aware some might express concern over the operation coinciding with the unofficial start of the summer tourist season. However, the hazardous conditions dictated an immediate response, he said.

"I'm getting a lot of calls. . . A lot of the boaters and fishermen are getting concerned. So I think they'll all be glad because up until now we didn't even have a
commitment."

"We can pick a worse time, I guess," Markert, the boat captain, said. "But, you know, as long as they don't block us from getting out."

Markert said he did not foresee that the dredging would present any major problems for commercial boaters over the holiday weekend.

"Normally, (the dredge) would be off to one side or the other," he said. "I don't think
they can totally block or negate navigation of any kind. This particular sandbar, this
build-up, is just off the south jetty . . . For a while, they might have to be in the center of the inlet, sucking that out of there, because there's quite a bit of shoaling there."