In 1992, Joseph Vietri, then a coastal engineer with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New York District, was walking with a colleague and a coastal researcher around Westhampton Beach, a barrier island located on the south shore of Long Island, New York.
A barrier island is a long narrow island that lies parallel and close to the mainland, protecting the mainland from erosion and storms.
Vietri said, “The island was recently beaten up by a Nor’easter. We were walking in ankle-deep water and started to wade into peat that must off broken off of a wetland.”
Peat is decomposed organic matter that acts like a binding agent. It keeps wetland soil together. Once broken free, erosion can accelerate dramatically.
He continued, “We looked at each other and said, ‘If something is not done immediately, this whole island is going to unravel within a week.’”