Plan to fix coastline advances

A settlement between the state and the Massachusetts Lobstermen's Association is propelling a long-stagnant Winthrop Beach renourishment proposal designed to fix its eroding coastline.

But shore residents affected by flooding from even moderate rainfall should limit their glee to a "half-hurrah," as the project now moves to the federal approval stage, said Joe Orfant , chief of the Bureau of Project Design and Management in the state Department of Conservation and Recreation's Division of Planning and Engineering .

"We're just now waiting for the federal process, an endangered species consultation that takes half a year," said Orfant, who has spent a decade pushing for the estimated $9 million project as part of DCR's Back to the Beaches program. He said there is a possibility the work could start in the fall of 2008 .

The proposal calls for dredging 500,000 cubic yards of sand from the ocean bottom 8 miles out to sea and dumping it along Winthrop's shoreline to replenish the beach. The project still needs the approval of the US Army Corps of Engineers , which is ad vised by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Marine Fisheries Service . Winthrop's roads are too small to accommodate a large caravan of sand-hauling trucks.

As part of the settlement, and pending federal approval, DCR agreed to carve out $250,000 to fund the Lobstermen's Association lobster monitoring study in locations along Massachusetts Bay. DCR also agreed it would never seek to use sand from the proposed section of ocean floor for another Winthrop Beach dredging project; that it will wait 15 years before requesting use of that site for other dredging projects; and that it will impose a 5-year moratorium on itself for any other ocean dredging. During the moratorium, DCR agreed to perform a study of on- and off-shore sourcing material for beach nourishment.

The Lobstermen's Association, which was appealing the state Department of Environmental Protection's decision to uphold the approval of the Boston Conservation Commission for the dredging, agreed to acknowledge the project is for the public safety and community needs of Winthrop, and stated it has no objections.

"The lobstermen finally acknowledged that this is an important public safety issue for Winthrop and essentially implicitly acknowledged that the site will recover after we do the dredging," Orfant said.

Steven S. Broadley , the attorney representing the Lobstermen's Association, said that "a combination of a variety of pressures" led the Division of Marine Fisheries to push "everybody into the same table" last week to negotiate and finalize a settlement. Marine Fisheries, like the Lobstermen's Association, expressed concerns that dredging off the coast would cause lasting harm to species of lobster and cod. At Marine Fisheries ' request , a one-year species study was conducted from 2004 to 2005; it concluded that the proposed dredging would not cause permanent harm to sea life.

"The lobstermen felt that at this point . . . it would be sufficient for them not to continue to appeal this project," Broadley said, while adding that the association still believes dredging adds another limitation for professional fishermen. "It was clearly the case that the lobstermen felt that this area, which can be compared to something larger than the size of Boston Common, is an area that in certain times of the year is a breeding ground for lobster and, at times, cod."

State Representative Robert DeLeo, who has championed the proposal since its inception, said he was in constant communication about it with the state Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs secretary, Ian Bowles, since he was appointed to the position this year. DeLeo also has the support of US Representative Edward Markey . It was DeLeo who, early on, proposed filing legislation to impose a moratorium on dredging until the project's effects could be measured.

"We have evidence in other parts of the country that this works," DeLeo said. "I think we've all been extremely patient. There's been a whole lot of folks who've worked very hard and diligently, and finally we made our point."

Cheryl Tobey, cochairwoman of the Winthrop Beach Citizens Action Committee, has been advocating for the project for eight years, which she called "eight years of horror." She said 1991's No-Name Storm changed the beach's configuration, and "now it seems that even a little tiny itty bitty storm, or when the sun is shining and the ocean's a little angry, it comes pouring over the wall."

While glad the Lobstermen's Association dropped the appeal, she said it did it "because they're getting money. It is dirty." Tobey said she worries the state Department of Marine Fisheries has never publicly endorsed the project.

"I am cautiously wondering if this will be used by the National Marine Fisheries as a basis for a whole new round of appeals and delays," Tobey wrote in a statement also signed by Irv Goldstein , her cochair on the committee.

"Winthrop has been left open to possible loss of life and property for eight years for no reason and I think the DMF and all the agencies for the state and now the federal need to accept that people's lives and property are more important than posturing."

Katheleen Conti can be reached at kconti@globe.com