November 8, 2017

Mr. James Mahala, Chief, Wetlands and Waterways Program

Southeast Regional Office Bureau of Water Resources
Massachusetts DEP
20 Riverside Dr.
Lakeville, MA 02347

Re: Wetlands Violation Complaint - Round Hill Beach, Dartmouth MA

Dear Jim,

The Town of Dartmouth’s elected Board of Parks and Recreation has jurisdiction over a 30.5 acre town-
owned parcel (Map 90 Lot 10) which contains a portion of the Meadow Shores salt marsh complex and
the heavily used Round Hill Beach, a barrier beach fronting Buzzards Bay. Certain activities undertaken
to operate and maintain the beach for the recreational benefit of Dartmouth residents are adversely
impacting coastal wetland resource areas and endangered species protected by State and Federal
regulation. This work is being done without permits.

Compounding the damage to resource areas from unpermitted work is increased beach usage. “Usage has
exploded over the last decade,” reported Tim Lancaster, Director of the Parks and Recreation Department,
at a Finance Committee meeting on 9/12/17. He went on to say that the number of Round Hill Beach
parking stickers issued annually has increased from 1,600 to 4,200 over the last decade. As staffing and
budgets have not kept pace with this explosion in usage, the Parks and Recreation Department is ill
equipped and understaffed to also manage protection of coastal resources and endangered shorebirds.

Figure 1 shows the Round Hill Beach parcel’s recently delineated wetland resource areas. These resource
areas include:
 Barrier Beach
 Coastal Beach
 Coastal Dunes
 Coastal Bank
 Salt Marsh
 Bordering Vegetated Wetlands
 Riverfront Area
 Land Containing Shellfish
 Land Subject to Coastal Storm Flowage
While easily erodible sand is the dominant beach sediment, cobble with some boulder size material exists
in the nearshore areas. Consequently, pebble to cobble sized material is deposited onshore by waves,
particularly during storms.
 Figure 1

Additionally, the entire beach area has been identified as potential or known habitat for several state and
federally-listed threatened and endangered species, including Piping Plover, Roseate Tern, Red Knot,
Least Tern, Arctic Tern, and Common Tern. In particular, the Massachusetts Audubon Society
(MassAudubon) has documented the presence of nesting and successful breeding pairs of piping plovers.
Through an informal agreement between the MassAudubon and the abutting property owner, suitable
piping plover nesting habitat is delineated with symbolic fencing during nesting season.

Figure 2, taken from the Round Hill Beach facing southwest, shows a sign marking the boundary of the
Town beach and the plover fencing just past it. On the landward side of the fencing (out of view) and
continuing further down beyond the fencing is the meandering tidal inlet, Moses Smith Creek, which
connects Buzzards Bay to the Meadows Shore Marsh. The seaward portion of the beach in the
background of Figure 2 is a tidal flat. This inlet and associated tidal flat is frequented by piping plovers
that can often be observed foraging at low tide.

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 Figure 2

Non-Permitted Beach Raking The foreground of Figure 2 shows the tread marks and rake indentations
from the Town’s heavy equipment used for beach raking. The Town’s beach maintenance program
includes a longstanding practice of mechanical raking twice a week during the summer swimming season.
The current beach raking program is adversely affecting protected coastal wetland resource areas and
piping plovers.

1) Mechanical Raking of Vegetated Dunes. Figure 2 shows a barrier dune at Round Hill Beach
that has been disturbed by a mechanical rake and tires from the tractor that pulls it (See Figure 4).
Raking of dunes is likely to destroy dune vegetation and thereby destabilize the dune. Also,
because wrack at the base of the dune serves as both a trap for sand and a source of seeds for new
plant growth, removing wrack material from this area may adversely affect dune stability and
development.1

Figure 3

1
Applying the Massachusetts Coastal Wetland Regulations: A Practical Manual for Conservation Commissions to
Protect the Storm Damage and Flood Control Functions of Coastal Wetland Areas, 2017.

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 2) Raking below the high tide line. Beach raking encompasses the entire beach area including the
intertidal zone and into the water as seen in Figure 4.

Figure 4

3) Removal of small cobbles and other natural sediment from a Coastal Beach. Figure 5 shows
the disposal pile from seaweed and sediment recently removed from Round Hill Beach.
Removing sediment from the beach deprives adjacent beach areas of sediment, and compromises
the level of storm protection and flood control protection that these beaches provide.1 Due to the
east to west longshore sediment transport2, removal of sediment from this coastal beach,
particularly from the intertidal area (see Figure 4) is depriving the downdrift beaches of sediment.
4) Deposit of raked seaweed, and sediment within the buffer areas of Dunes and Bordering
Vegetated Wetlands. The disposal pile (Figure 5) is located behind the parking area for the
beach in a buffer area for dunes and BVW as delineated by Louis Berger Group and shown in
Figure 6.

2
Ramsey, John et al. Inlet Migration Analysis and Management Recommendations included as Attachment 5 to
Round Hill Salt Marsh Restoration Project Expanded Environmental Notification Form with Waiver Request. July
2017.

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 Figure 5

Disposal
Area

Figure 6

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 5) Endangering Plovers by removal of all Plover wrack line foraging habitat, and raking in a
Plover nesting habitat. The raked area shown in Figure 2 is within the portion of the Town
Beach that is deemed suitable as nesting habitat for Plovers. However, MassAudubon no longer
stakes off this area due to public safety concerns of the Parks Department.

Heavy Beach Usage Heavy beach usage is also damaging protected coastal wetland resource areas and
piping plover habitat.

1) Damage of protected resource areas, in particular heavy visitor traffic trampling the salt marsh in
the summer months.
2) Harassment of piping plovers by heavy visitor traffic in the summer months. In addition to
Round Hill Beach, the adjacent beaches including the barrier beach and tidal flat shown in Figure
2 have also been identified as plover habitat.

Due to the Town’s twice-weekly raking of the entirety of Round Hill Beach, and heavy beach
usage, plover habitat on the Town Beach is degraded and almost nonexistent during the summer
swim season. Therefore, the only viable nesting, resting and foraging habitat available to plovers
is the abutting barrier beach and tidal flats. Numerous piping plovers and other shorebirds can
often be observed foraging in and around the salt marsh inlet and tidal flats at low tide.

Visitors to Round Hill Beach do not limit their usage to the Town beach. The explosion of
Round Hill Beach usage has spilled over to the abutting barrier beach, salt marsh inlet and tidal
flats. Young children who have perambulated from the Town beach can often be observed
repeatedly running full tilt at foraging plovers. Other than the symbolic fencing installed during
nesting season, there are no barriers or other measures to prevent visitor access to foraging and
resting habitat areas and disturbance of plovers on abutting property. The signs posting the Town
property boundary are ineffective for this purpose.

3) Damage to dunes by beach fires in the off season as can be seen in Figure 7. Entrance gates to
Round Hill Beach are kept open 24/7 in the off-season. Visitors have overnight access to all
resource areas.

Figure 7

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 4) Possible ground water contamination. The Town maintains a 40 year old septic system at Round
Hill Beach. According to remarks made by Mike O’Reilly, Environmental Affairs Coordinator,
in a Select Board meeting on 9/25/17, it’s a substandard system that is “only 23 feet away from
existing wetland”. With the explosion of beach usage over the past decade as noted above and
the system’s proximity to wetland, it’s possible that effluent from this system could be
contaminating ground water. Although the source of contamination has not been pinpointed, the
receiving waters of nearby Moses Smith Creek were closed to swimming due to fecal
contamination for 5 weeks during the 2017 summer season.

Conclusion

Any activity that will remove, fill, dredge or alter an area subject to protection under the Massachusetts
Wetlands Protection Act requires the filing of a Notice of Intent (NOI) and receipt of an Order of
Conditions. However, the Town has never filed an NOI for its ongoing operation and maintenance of
Round Hill Beach which includes a mechanical raking program that has disturbed vegetative cover of
dunes and removed sediment from the beach. Additionally, federal jurisdiction under Section 404 of the
Clean Water Act applies to the salt marsh and beach areas below the high water line. The Town does not
have a U.S. Army Corp of Engineers permit for mechanical raking of the beach below the high water line.

Protecting coastal resources is critical due to the increasing vulnerability of the coastline to intense
storms, rising sea levels, and human activity. Barrier beaches and dunes protect landward areas, both
developed and natural, by providing a buffer from damaging storm waves and storm surge. Salt marshes
also reduce wave energy and absorb flood waters before they reach inland. These coastal resources also
serve as critical habitats for plants and wildlife. Based on the adverse impacts from the Town’s current
beach raking program and the toll that heavy beach usage is taking, enforcement action and a
management plan are needed to preserve the natural functions of the resource areas in the Round Hill
Beach parcel and ensure their viability into the future.

All overseers and stakeholders need to recognize that the 30 acre Round Hill Beach parcel is a valuable
ecological as well as recreational resource and align management of it accordingly. Only with sufficient
budgets, staffing, and management focus can the Town allow for public recreation in a safe and enjoyable
environment while protecting the existing dune and beach system, salt marsh complex, and wildlife
habitat.

Sincerely,

Advocates for Coastal Resource Protection