Long Beach rejects ban on boardwalk tropical wood

A pair of environmental groups have called for Long Beach to ban the use of tropical wood in rebuilding its oceanfront boardwalk -- a request city leaders have rejected.

The groups cite a 2001 section in the Long Beach code that states the city will not purchase rain forest wood for boardwalk construction unless the products "have been harvested in an environmentally sound manner."

Representatives from the groups say Long Beach officials have not adequately proved that the ipê wood -- a dense type found in rain forests in South America and parts of Central America -- used in the city's $44 million boardwalk reconstruction is environmentally sustainable. They have called on the city to craft a stricter law that bans the use of tropical wood outright, and have made the request at two recent City Council meetings.

City officials said they believe the law is sufficient. Officials also said they and the boardwalk contractor, Grace Industries of Plainview, vetted the sources from which they purchased the ipê to ensure the wood was harvested sustainably.

But Tim Keating, executive director of Manhattan-based Rainforest Relief, said he is unconvinced.

"The reality is they continue to say, 'That wood is environmentally sound,' and what is the proof?" Keating said. "Everybody knows any kind of rain forest wood is bad and illegally harvested."

The city is using ipê for the decking of the 2.2-mile boardwalk, which is almost halfway done. The city has obtained certificates from vendors that say the ipê was acquired in accordance with federal and international environmental standards, said Corey Klein, Long Beach's attorney, who provided Newsday with copies of the certificates.

Several organizations do such certification and consider such factors as chain of custody of the wood, whether the wood came from an old growth forest and if endangered species were threatened by the logging.

Keating said the certifications do not specify where the wood was logged, which he said is critical to determine if it was harvested from a sustainable source.

The protests from the environmental activist groups -- including another New York City group, New York Climate Action Group -- have become a distraction from the city's progress in restoring the boardwalk, City Council president Scott Mandel said.

"This was the best product for our needs. One of the hallmarks was that it's sustainable," Mandel said, adding that the allegation the city violated its code is "absolutely fictitious."

Ipê is a popular building material because of its durability -- it is three times harder than cedar -- and it has been used extensively in U.S. municipal projects. Part of Coney Island's boardwalk is made of ipê, and the wood also has been used for boardwalk projects in Atlantic City, N.J., Miami Beach and Santa Monica, Calif.

Nassau Legis. Denise Ford (R-Long Beach), who has been a critic of the boardwalk rebuilding process, said it is probably too late to halt the project even if the critics are correct.

"If this is the case, let's just finish what we have left, get back to normal, and we'll get back to the issue of whether or not they violated their own charter," Ford said.