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MARCOR Protecting the Beauty and Ecology of Assateague Island
Sand Dune Replenishment Project Nears Completion
3/29/2007–ASSATEAGUE ISLAND, MD–The convoy of trucks seen more than 100 times a day traveling up and down Route 611 on their way to Assateague Island off the coasts of Maryland and Virginia is bringing “lifeblood” to the barrier island. The trucks are carrying tons and tons of sand to replenish the island’s sand dunes, which have been seriously eroded by storms, manmade alternations in the coastal area, and other factors.
Once delivered, the sand is carefully and methodically moved to repair the disappearing sand dunes by workers for MARCOR Remediation, as they rebuild and replenish more than 5,000 linear feet of dunes that protect the island and support its bustling ecosystem. MARCOR was brought in by the State of Maryland’s Department of Natural Resources to perform emergency repair on this island, which is separated from the mainland by Chincoteague Bay.
Assateague Island is famous for the wild horses – also called Chincoteague ponies – which are tough enough to survive the scorching heat, abundant mosquitoes, and stormy weather found on this remote, windswept barrier island. Believed to be the descendents of horses brought to the island in the late 17th century by mainland owners looking to avoid fencing laws, the horses are now split into two main herds, one on the Virginia side and one on the Maryland side.
MARCOR is moving sand that has migrated from the dune areas and is also trucking in an additional 30,000 cubic yards of sand from the town of Millsboro, DE, some 30 miles away. The newly refurbished dunes average about 16 feet high at their peak and 85 feet wide at their base. Why does the sand need to come from such a distance? “The sand we are bringing in must meet certain specifications,” explained Project Manager Dwayne Austin. “We had to locate sand pits throughout the region that could possibly provide enough for this project. We ended up testing nine pits of sand for the right type and consistency and ended up only finding three that were acceptable.”
MARCOR operates a large excavator and two bulldozers every day on the shore, moving the existing and delivered sand into suitable sand dunes, located farther from the shoreline than they were previously. Work began in mid-January 2007 and is expected to be completed in mid-to-late April, approximately one month ahead of schedule. Initially, the existing dunes sat at the water line at high tide and about 50 ft. back at low tide. “Thanks to the work we’re doing, the new dunes will be 50 ft. away from the water line at high tide and almost 100 ft. away at low tide,” said Austin, who works out of MARCOR’s Salisbury, MD, office.
According to John Arford, area supervisor with the Maryland Department of General Services, an early winter storm wreaked particular havoc on the dunes of Assateague Island. “We do beach replenishment about every five years, but the recent winter storm caused a lot of devastation to this area,” he said. MARCOR’s Austin agreed. “We found dunes you could walk up to the peak, but once there, the other side of the dune was sheared off, with a straight-down drop,” he said.
By the time the Assateague Island project is complete, MARCOR, a national environmental services contractor with headquarters in Hunt Valley, MD, will have overseen all details of the emergency response, including the transport of 2,100 truckloads of sand to the island. Other details involved the quick coordination of heavy equipment, qualified workers, sand sourcing, and delivery. “We’re happy to work with the state on such a project that is so important to the environment,” Austin said.
MARCOR is completing a number of other projects for the state of Maryland, including the renovation of the recreational facilities at Shad Landing State Park in Pocomoke, MD. After clearing an area of woodland, MARCOR prepared the site and built baseball fields, volleyball courts, a parking lot, and refurbished a playground, in addition to handling all utility work for the Department of Natural Resources.
MARCOR Remediation, a specialty contracting company founded in 1980 with a current staff of 700 and headquarters in Hunt Valley, MD, performs a full range of environmental contracting services. These include industrial cleaning, asbestos and lead hazard abatement, mold remediation, plant/process decommissioning and demolition, soil and groundwater remediation, emergency spill response, gun range remediation, storage tank management, and restorative cleaning projects. Customers typically include industrial hygienists, commercial and industrial clients, government agencies, environmental consultants, real estate development and property management firms, Real Estate Investment Trusts (REIT), the hospitality industry, educational institutions, health care facilities, and others. Each of the company’s 15 offices is staffed with the necessary mix of senior technical management, regulatory compliance experts, and experienced HAZMAT labor force. For more information, the Web site is www.marcor.com.
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