Van Drew: South Jersey Shore Must Continue Receiving Federal Beach Protection Funding

South Jersey's beaches remain one of the region's most valuable economic and environmental assets, and Congressman Jeff Van Drew says continuing to secure federal funding for beach replenishment and coastal protection projects remains one of his top priorities.

Speaking Wednesday on WOND's The Lorry Young Show, Van Drew said protecting the coastline is about far more than preserving beaches for tourism. He said projects such as beach replenishment, seawalls and groins are essential to protecting homes, businesses and public infrastructure from coastal storms.

"We need to make sure that we get the dollars down here for the beach replenishment, for the sea walls, for the groins, for all of it," Van Drew said. "We need to make sure that we maintain that infrastructure because it not only is important for tourism, important for our beautiful beaches, it's important for security and safety in order to keep our structures sound and safe."

Van Drew said his office has successfully directed a significant share of federal beach nourishment funding to South Jersey.

"I'm proud to say even for beach replenishment, we've got a record amount of money into the region," he said. "About 70% of all the money that went towards beach replenishment and beach nourishment went right here, right to this district."

The congressman's comments come as several Shore communities continue dealing with erosion concerns and infrastructure issues following winter storms.

Earlier this week, Brigantine officials renewed calls for repairs to the city's oceanfront promenade, with Councilman Paul Lettieri warning that deteriorating beach access has created hazardous conditions for residents and visitors.

Van Drew said his office will continue working to secure additional federal support for shoreline protection projects.

"We've always continually worked hard and we will continue to work hard on" beach protection, he said.