Dr. Peter Bonutti points to ruts adjacent to a sea turtle nest on the beach in Manalapan. Photos provided by Peter Bonutti
By John Pacenti
Manalapan officials are trying to get to the bottom of which mechanical beach raking company is leaving deep ruts near turtle nests in town. Two companies that clean the beach of debris are pointing the finger at each other.
Dr. Peter Bonutti, who is Manalapan’s liaison with the county on beach erosion, sent photos to the town on April 6 showing what he said were tractor tracks 11 inches deep directly adjacent to a turtle nest.
Town Manager Eric Marmer, in an April 6 email to a program administrator at the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, said, “Where are the DEP staff that are supposed to police these violations Dr. Bonutti is reporting? Any guidance for the town?”
Ginger K. Shirah — environmental administrator for DEP’s Office of Resilience and Coastal Protection — responded to Marmer on April 7 that the department met with David Rowland of Beach Keeper Inc., the company that rakes private beaches in Manalapan at homeowners’ expense.
Rowland told DEP that it was another company, Universal Beach Services, leaving the ruts with a very heavy tractor after he had already cleaned the beach.
“We have requested a meeting with Universal, as they do not have a permit from DEP to beach clean in this area,” Shirah wrote in her email to Marmer.
A request for comment from Shirah was passed to the DEP’s spokesperson, who did not provide a statement.
Rowland told The Coastal Star that Universal Beach Services was leaving the ruts after servicing condos in South Palm Beach, driving along the beach through Manalapan, and exiting at the public access point at Ocean Inlet Park.
“He’s driving a lot higher than what the permit should allow us, and because his tractor is so massive, it’s leaving these huge ruts,” Rowland said. “They’re not abiding by the guidelines that have been set for the town.”
Palm Beach County permits beach raking only below the high-water mark.
A closer photo shows how deeply the ruts cut into the sand.
Universal denies it is leaving the ruts and points the finger back at Beach Keeper.
“It’s really much to do about nothing, in my opinion,” said Clayton Peart, president of Universal. “The simplest explanation would be, you’ve already got your guy on that beach working, that would be the obvious person.”
He said he has to traverse Manalapan beach maybe once every two or three weeks, but does so at low tide in the “wet beach area,” so any tracks would be washed away.
Bonutti says mechanical beach raking causes erosion because it removes the unsightly wrack — the seaweed and natural detritus that come from the ocean.
“It destroys the beach, destroys the dunes,” he said.
Bonutti said mechanical raking also is detrimental during sea turtle nesting season from March through October. He said beach raking — mechanical or manual — is prohibited from going deeper than two inches in the sand during turtle season.
He said Beach Keeper’s 4½- ton tractor can’t help but to penetrate deeper.
Bonutti said he believes only manual raking should be allowed during turtle season.
Manalapan’s Beach Committee has discussed the issue of mechanical beach raking, but it has been mainly focused on the sand transfer plant and beach erosion. Marmer has suggested that a more balanced approach is needed, saying that while a pristine beach is aesthetically pleasing, some natural elements might help prevent erosion.
To be fair, having residents upset over tractor tracks on the beach isn’t new. The Coastal Star has covered the issue numerous times, such as in October 2018 when a resident in Highland Beach installed poles and ropes in the sand to keep the tractors at bay.
Marmer said the schedules of the beach raking companies are not consistent, which makes it hard for the town to get to the bottom of who is actually causing the ruts.
He said that Manalapan has met with DEP and is working toward best practices for mechanical beach raking — such as having the town alerted when it occurs.
While some residents believe — like Bonutti — that mechanical beach raking is harmful, others do not, Marmer said.
“A lot of people, they want to have the beach raker because they see it as a good service that provides clean beaches so their kids, or whoever, even themselves, don’t go to their beaches and step on glass bottles or whatever,” he said.
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