COURT HOUSE – The City of North Wildwood has filed a complaint in Superior Court against the state Department of Environmental Protection for its role in the cancellation of a $54 million shore protection project.
The DEP had advised the city that on Friday, Nov. 7, the department was informed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that it was terminating the Hereford Inlet to Cape May Inlet dune and beach berm project, locally known as the Five-Mile Dune Project, which had been on the drawing board since 2013.
The DEP told the four municipalities involved in the project that the Army Corps determined that opposition to the project by Wildwood and Wildwood Crest made it impossible for the DEP to acquire easements needed from private property owners to advance the project.
North Wildwood’s complaint says the state agency breached its contract with the city for shore protection under the Project Partnership Agreement the city signed on Jan. 17, 2017. The DEP signed the agreement as the non-federal sponsor of the project.
According to the lawsuit, the DEP entered into a State Aid Agreement dated March 1, 2022, with each of the municipalities in the project – North Wildwood, Wildwood, Wildwood Crest and Lower Township – for a collaborative effort on the project. North Wildwood and Lower Township signed the State Aid Agreement immediately. Wildwood Crest signed contingent on a modified plan.
The lawsuit says all parties were bound by the aid agreement from taking actions that would undermine the project’s objectives.
“Despite North Wildwood’s compliance with its obligations under the State Aid Agreement, including expending significant resources on preparatory measures, NJDEP breached its contractual obligations under the SAA [State Aid Agreement] and the PPA [Project Partnership Agreement] by, amongst other things, failing to acquire certain easements, neglecting to enforce municipal cooperation, and allowing the project to languish, resulting in the ultimate loss of funding to the detriment of North Wildwood,” the lawsuit reads.
The city’s position is that breaches of obligations by the DEP led to the entire project’s being canceled on Nov. 7. The city charges that the DEP is responsible for the loss of more than $28.5 million in unreimbursed expenses and the forfeiture of $54 million in federal and state funding for the project.
All the while, the lawsuit says, North Wildwood has endured more than a decade of beach loss with no federal replenishment since 2012.
A spokesman for the DEP acknowledged that the department received a copy of the lawsuit and a statement about the suit by North Wildwood Mayor Patrick Rosenello.
“The commissioner’s letter last week to project area mayors speaks for itself and accurately describes the situation. DEP does not comment on pending litigation,” DEP spokesman Larry Hajna said via email.
Rosenello said in a statement issued Nov. 12, the same day as the suit’s filing, “Faced with the NJDEP’s inexplicable refusal to fulfill its core mandate, the City of North Wildwood has no choice but to pursue this lawsuit – filing a verified complaint in the Superior Court of New Jersey to compel accountability and force the agency to honor its obligations under the State Aid Agreement.”
The mayor said the city didn’t take the action lightly, but feels the DEP simply breached a contract.
“We had a contract for them to do a beach replenishment project on our beach. They told us last week they are not going to do it. We are asking the judge to either tell them to pay for it or do the project,” Rosenello said when contacted by phone.
According to the lawsuit, the city is seeking reimbursement of expenses related to beach restoration projects; damages for economic losses from diminished tourism revenue and declining property values; pre- and post-judgment interest; attorney costs and fees, and other relief the court deems equitable.
“The federal government had allocated $54 million to do this project for the Wildwoods,” Rosenello said. “The NJDEP was local sponsor, and they had requirements for getting the easements and a whole host of other things. The bottom line is they failed to do the stuff to make this work.”
The mayor’s statement referred to the DEP’s action as “bureaucratic sabotage” that “has left our communities perilously exposed to the storms NJDEP itself predicts with alarm.” He said now only the courts can come up with a equitable solution.
The statement said, “The withdrawal of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from the Hereford Inlet to Cape May Inlet Shore Protection Project represents one of the most stunning and consequential failures in the history of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.”
Contact the reporter, Christopher South, at csouth@cmcherald.com or call 609-886-8600, ext. 128.
