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Saturday, October 25, 2014

The Matunuck Controversy

Coastal Communities Feel the Reality of Climate Change

South Kingstown – Coastal communities, residents, business and property owners are feeling the adverse effects of climate change due to sea level rise, coastal inundation, severe storm events, flooding and coastal erosion.

Once known in the abstract as a global warming, big picture issue, the ill effects of carbon emissions and warming seas are taking their toll as government leaders at the national and local levels “prepare to prepare” their citizenry for future climate change crisis and emergent events.

Climate Change erodes Seaside Village

Matunuck Village tucked away on the south coast of Block Island Sound has residents and business owners embattled in a fight against Mother Nature, municipality and time.

The severely eroding shoreline adjacent to homes and businesses in the village created a public safety concern for the Town that pitted residents against town and the state’s Coastal Resources Management Council (CRMC).

The village, accessed by the sole two-lane Matunuck Beach Road, was and is in jeopardy of losing both road and the critical water supply infrastructure lying beneath due to continued coastal erosion and increased storm activity.

Residents, business owners and town officials disagreed on a remedy for the deteriorating situation in the headlands, with property owners taking their own initiatives against the pounding surf, the town applying and receiving emergency assent to build a seawall, and state officials issuing violations.

At a June 2014 meeting of the CRMC, Kevin Finnegan, owner of the Ocean Mist testified before CRMC, notifying the council of recently built armament structures along the experimental zone. Finnegan, who didn’t apply for experimental measures, concentrated on blocking the Town’s project in an effort to protect his business.


You can read the rest of Tracey’s article, which includes excerpts from interviews and the June standing-room only meeting video by clicking here.