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Judge orders halt to New Jersey sand dune project

This July 31, 2017 photo shows beachgoers crossing over large ponds of water on the beach in Margate N.J., days after heavy rains created large ponds of standing water on the beach. On Thursday Aug. 3, 2017, a judge ordered the immediate shutdown of the sand dune construction project that caused the water to collect on the beach, and gave the federal, state and local governments a week to come up with an engineering solution. (AP Photo/Wayne Parry)
This July 31, 2017 photo shows beachgoers crossing over large ponds of water on the beach in Margate N.J., days after heavy rains created large ponds of standing water on the beach. On Thursday Aug. 3, 2017, a judge ordered the immediate shutdown of the sand dune construction project that caused the water to collect on the beach, and gave the federal, state and local governments a week to come up with an engineering solution. (AP Photo/Wayne Parry) This July 31, 2017 photo shows beachgoers crossing over large ponds of water on the beach in Margate N.J., days after heavy rains created large ponds of standing water on the beach. On Thursday Aug. 3, 2017, a judge ordered the immediate shutdown of the sand dune construction project that caused the water to collect on the beach, and gave the federal, state and local governments a week to come up with an engineering solution. (AP Photo/Wayne Parry)

By Associated Press 3 min read

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) – A judge on Thursday shut down a government sand-dune construction project in New Jersey that created huge ponds of bacteria-laden water and blocked off access to parts of the beach.

Superior Court Judge Julio Mendez said he was horrified by photos showing “lake-like” ponds of standing water on the beach in Margate for days following heavy rains last weekend. He agreed that residents of the town just south of Atlantic City are suffering irreparable harm and that the situation cannot be allowed to be made worse, and said he is halting the project for at least a week.

“Some of those photos are pretty horrendous,” Mendez said. “It’s lake-like ponding causing tremendous difficulty. Something went really bad here. The bottom line is this needs to be corrected.”

The judge ordered all sides to work out a remedial plan, to be presented to him next Thursday.

“I’m ecstatic,” Margate Mayor Michael Becker said. “It’s the right thing to do. To allow them to continue to do something that’s not working is wrong.”