Port Alfred dune dumping prompts surfers’ complaint

ONGOING dumping of dredging spoils in the East Beach dunes has led to Port Alfred surfers laying a formal complaint with the municipality this week.

This follows an e-mail campaign to stop the disposal of dredged silt from the Royal Alfred Marina canals onto East Beach, with some surfers believing the damage done to the dunes has contributed to poor surfing seasons for the past two years.

Leading the campaign is surfer Mike Varela, who submitted photographs taken by fellow surfer Jerome Boulle as evidence.

“Clearly, this stuff is very slow to break down in the wind and sun, and the accumulation has caused significant damage,” Varela said. “I think it is now appropriate that we call for a rehabilitation project to try and repair this damage.”

Varela spoke out after an initial e-mail by marina resident Warwick Heny – who is secretary of the Kowie Boardriders Club – calling for a debate on relocating the dredge disposal into the rip off the East Pier.

While not against the disposal of the silt on East Beach, Heny felt discharging it adjacent to East Pier could “assist in adding additional sand to our everchanging sandbank” and help surfing conditions.

“I approached the marina in my personal capacity to see their response to this, and I was pleasantly surprised to hear that they are open to suggestions regarding what to do with the sediment/sand after it is dredged,” he said.

“The environmental approvals they have allow for it to be dispersed/ pumped into ‘the surf zone’ and this means there are no new EIAs necessary in order to do this.”

Rhodes ichthyology professor Peter Britz, also a surfer, said it would be preferable to deposit the dredged silt into the surf “as the natural aeration of the high energy surf zone would oxidise the anoxic organic matter and disperse it over a wide area”.

Peter Bassett, Royal Alfred Marina Homeowners Association committee member with the dredging portfolio, said Heny had no mandate from the surfing community, “nor was his proposal backed by any sort of scientific data”.

Bassett did not agree there was any correlation between poor surfing conditions over the last two years and the dredging deposits in the dunes.

“The latter has been going on for almost 20 years. If dredging was to blame, surely the effect would have been felt before now?”

The Ndlambe Municipality had not responded to requests for comment by late yesterday.