13 from Montauk sue over shoreline erosion

Thirteen Montauk homeowners Tuesday filed a $25-million lawsuit against New York State, Suffolk County and East Hampton Town, saying government negligence has exacerbated erosion of their shoreline and threatened their beachfront homes.

Jonathan Sinnreich, a Central Islip attorney for the homeowners, said these government entities have been aware of the severe erosion in Montauk's Culloden Shores for decades, but have done nothing.

The plaintiffs - who also filed separate notices of claim against the federal government and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers - live in Culloden Shores. The community consists of about 400 homes on Montauk's northwestern side. All have beach rights, and more than 40 of them are directly on the beach.

The lawsuit, filed in State Supreme Court in Central Islip, claims state environmental officials have hindered the homeowners' ability to protect their properties with hard structures. It says the county has refused to remedy the situation by using excess sand built up on the east side of the jetty to rebuild the western shoreline.

The suit also claims East Hampton Town, which owns the jetties at the Montauk Harbor entrance, has done nothing to correct how they interfere with the natural flow of sand from east to west, to the Culloden area. It also says the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which designed and constructed the jetties, has not done enough to correct them.

"They have refused to spend the money, and now it's critical," Sinnreich said.

Terry Bienstock, a homeowner in the lawsuit who has lived on the beach in Culloden Shores for 12 years, said he has lost 100 feet of sand and about 60 feet of dune.

SEE PHOTOSHurricane Bill storms erode Long Island

"I lost 30 feet of dune in the last Christmas storm alone," he said. "Last August, I applied for a permit from the state DEC to put in a bulkhead and sand, and they refused to grant it. It's getting worse every day."

Bill Fonda, a spokesman for the state Department of Environmental Conservation, said that during the past two winters, his staff has issued permits and emergency authorization to these homeowners for bulkheads and rocks.

"These homes are in a coastal erosion hazard area, so they face a continuing threat of storm damage," he said.

East Hampton Town Supervisor Bill Wilkinson said the town "has been incredibly responsive to their requests, working with the state DEC, and we've been on the ground at every storm."

He said the larger issue is up to the Army Corps to dredge Montauk Harbor, which is filling up with too much sand and grounding fishing boats.

Chris Gardner, a Corps spokesman, said it is studying whether to do a sand bypass at the harbor entrance, or to dredge it and use the sand to fill in the western side of Culloden.

"Our long-term plan is to start dredging in 2013, but we are meeting with congressman Tim Bishop's office to discuss short-term solutions in the next month," he said.

But plaintiff Frank DeVito said, "We can't wait for more studies. My house almost fell in the water in the December storm. It's up on blocks and I've spent $500,000 so far to save it."