Beach Mining in Monterey Bay Causes a Dustup
Officials in California Weigh Limits on a Decades-Old Facility That Dredges Sand
By
Jim Carlton
Updated Dec. 15, 2013 6:42 p.m. ET
California’s Monterey Bay is one of the most protected coastlines in the U.S., but sand mining operations are coming under increased scrutiny as opponents say they are contributing to heavy shoreline erosion. WSJ’s Jim Carlton reports.
MARINA, Calif.—California’s Monterey Bay boasts one of the nation’s most protected coastlines, situated within a federal sanctuary that imposes bans on everything from Jet Skis to offshore drilling.
Yet most days, hundreds of tons of sand are harvested from one of its most picturesque beaches, in a mining operation now coming under increased state and local scrutiny.
A dredge used by Cemex at a private beach in California’s Monterey Bay mines sand from a pond that contains sand-filled water carried by waves. James Tensuan for The Wall Street Journal
About 159,000 tons of sand annually are being dredged from pools just beyond the beach by an arm of Mexican cement giant Cemex SA B, the company says. Because that is also roughly the amount of sand that marine researchers say the local beach needs to replenish itself each year, officials here say the mine has greatly exacerbated an erosion problem like those ravaging shorelines world-wide.
“I don’t think you would see many people shedding a tear to see that go away,” said Jason Burnett, mayor of nearby Carmel-by-the-Sea and vice president of the Monterey Peninsula Regional Water Authority. “It’s probably the most invasive coastal impact we have.”
Spurred by local complaints, the California Coastal Commission is investigating whether the facility—which operates on privately owned property—should be sharply restricted. Mr. Burnett has gone a step further, suggesting Cemex consider selling the mining operation “rather than engage in this potential fight with the community.”
Cemex officials have expressed no inclination to sell, and they say there is no evidence that its mine, which has operated for decades under various owners, is contributing to the beach’s erosion. “We feel it is unsubstantiated,” said Sara Engdahl, spokeswoman for Cemex’s U.S. operations. The mine, which sells its sand primarily in California for uses including construction and water filtration, is one of 50 that Cemex operates across the U.S. but is the only one that harvests beach sand.
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The Monterey Bay debate comes as communities globally are struggling with ways to slow beach erosion, which threatens coastal infrastructure as well as tourism at a time when rising sea levels are likely to result in the loss of more shoreline, said Cheryl Hapke, a research geologist with the U.S. Geological Survey.
In California, beach sand historically has been partly replenished as part of a natural cycle: washed offshore during winter storms, it is returned to the beach later by waves, said Gary Griggs, director of the Institute of Marine Sciences at the University of California, Santa Cruz.
But that cycle has been interrupted over the past century on Marina’s dune-covered coastline just north of Monterey by a succession of sand mines, he said.
By 1988, five mines that had operated on public beaches here were ordered shut down by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers because of erosion concerns. That left just the 100-acre facility on private land now owned by Cemex, Mr. Griggs said.
A sample of coarse sand from the beach in Marina, Calif. James Tensuan for The Wall Street Journal
Few other sand mines operate along coastlines in the U.S. Some operating in inland U.S. locations, such as Minnesota, have drawn fire from nearby residents for concerns such as noise, traffic and water pollution. The mining of sand has been boosted in recent years because of its use in hydraulic-fracturing operations by oil companies.
In 2008, a study conducted for the Association of Monterey Bay Area Governments by an environmental hydrology firm concluded the Cemex mine was responsible for at least half the erosion rate of adjoining Marina State Beach. At 5 feet a year lost to the sea, the beach has one of the highest coastal-erosion rates in California, according to USGS estimates. The statewide average is about 0.7 feet annually, Ms. Hapke said.
In 2009, the Monterey Dunes Coalition, a consortium of environmentalists, cited that study in asking the Coastal Commission to investigate whether the mine has violated state regulations by more than doubling the production level believed to have been authorized by a previous state agency 40 years ago.
“My objective is to get some leverage over them,” said Ed Thornton, professor emeritus of oceanography at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, and president of the coalition.
The Coastal Commission, which expects to conclude its investigation early next year, is seeking to determine what authority, if any, the plant has had to mine sand, said Dan Carl, a deputy director of the agency. Cemex officials say they are cooperating with the state probe but don’t believe their operations are causing erosion.
On a recent tour of the facility, plant manager Dale Kendall said Cemex dredges only the sand carried by ocean waves into an intertidal pond, usually during winter storms. A slurry mix of sand and water is then pumped to a plant a half-mile away, where it is dried, sifted and sorted for various markets, he said.
Cemex’s Ms. Engdahl added that the company exercises environmental vigilance in its mining operations, such as not taking sand from the numerous dunes that adorn its property.
Mr. Burnett, the mayor of Carmel-by-the-Sea, suggests that the best outcome would be for Cemex to sell the mine, possibly to the city of Marina for use as a park. Marina officials said they have no such plans.