Join in on an exchange of perspectives regarding the breach at Old Inlet
 
Image from FINS facebook page. The Old Inlet dock can be seen at center
Saturday, Dec. 1 at 1:00 pm
Bellport Village Community Center
4 Bell Street
Bellport, NY 11713

 

Guest Speakers

 

Christopher Soller,  Superintendent Fire Island National Seashore
 
Mr. Soller will  provide a brief update of the Seashore's involvement in the implementation of a 1997 multi-agency Breach Contingency Plan (BCP). This plan calls for the immediate filling of breaches on Fire Island which do not occur in federally-designated wilderness. For a breach within the Otis Pike Fire Island High Dune Wilderness, a more conservative response is prescribed,and includes inter-agency monitoring of the behavior of the breach, while initially allowing it to close naturally. If the breach is determined to have adverse impacts on water levels in surrounding communities, it will be closed immediately. Supt. Soller will share data gathered by the National Park Service and partner agencies at the breach at Old Inlet. FINS
  
Kevin McAllister, President, Peconic Baykeeper
 
Mr. McAllister, president of Peconic Baykeepers, will provide a perspective with regard to the ecological advantages of additional sustained flow between the ocean and Great South Bay.
Peconic Baykeeper is the only independent not-for-profit advocate solely dedicated to the protection and improvement of the aquatic ecosystems of Peconic and South Shore estuaries of Long Island. As sprawl development continues to harden the island's landscape, pollution  threatens the vitality and health of our bays. Their recovery depends on kinds of enlightened costal management policies and responsible development practices that can be adopted when citizens and communities are informed and engaged in decision making. 
 
Charlie Flagg, Ph.D, Research Professor, SoMA (School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences) at Stony Brook SoMA
 
Mr. Flagg will share his perspective as a research scientist and will provide a slide presentation of images of the breach at Old Inlet taken during his numerous observation flights over the area. Mr. Flagg has been studying the circulation of the costal lagoons of southern Long Island using a combination of numerical modeling and observation. Currently he is looking at the impact that breaches in Fire Island might have on circulation and salinity distribution in Great South Bay and how bathymetric changes have altered the circulation and sediment transport in Jamaica Bay. Mr Flagg will share data collected from the Soma research buoy in Great South Bay that has been measuring distinct changes since Sandy. 
 
Additional guests include:
 
Elected officials and representatives from shoreline communities, commissions, and organizations who will share their perspectives with regard to the actual effects that the breach is having on their communities.
 
Shoreline residents property owners are urged to attend and will have an opportunity to share their perspectives during the public comment period.
 
Please arrive 15 minutes early if you wish to sign up for the public comment period.

Post Sandy

Image from FINS facebook page 

Pre Sandy

Image from FINS facebook page