NLWC News

Conservation Commission Permits Geotube Expansion

April 4, 2025

Nantucket Community Can Vote NO at Upcoming Annual Town Meeting

After nearly 15 months, the Conservation Commission closed the public hearing on the joint SBPF - Town of Nantucket Notice of Intent (NOI) application to extend the existing installation of geotubes on the public beach four times its length to approximately 4,000 linear feet along the base of the Sconset Bluff.  The Commission formally voted (4-1) to issue an Order of Conditions (OOC) permitting the proposed project with conditions.

As data collected by project consultants indicates, the geotubes are detrimental to the environment, increasing the erosion on surrounding beaches.  The NLWC takes the strong position that there are much more appropriate and less harmful alternatives,  especially given that the Town’s engineers have determined the relocation of Baxter Road can be completed by 2027.

The NLWC participated throughout the hearing process  submitting seven written comment letters in addition to a multitude of public comments made with our professional consulting coastal engineer Trey Ruthven of Sustainable Coastal Solutions.

The NLWC does not agree with the Commission's final determination that the project meets the necessary waiver criteria to receive a permit, and that the mitigation sand required by the permit will be sufficient to prevent long term negative impacts to our beaches and eastern shoreline. The Commission Chair cast the lone dissenting vote under the local wetlands bylaw.

One of the most critical issues  addressed by the Commission in the OOC is the ever-growing deficit of mitigation sand that was required by the previous permit for the existing geotubes, which SBPF has steadfastly refused to provide. The mitigation conditioned in the previous permit was determined with SBPF’s own data, supported by MA DEP, and agreed to by SBPF.  It has been demonstrated by two independent coastal engineering experts that the failure to contribute the required mitigation has already resulted in significant damage to the Town-owned coastal beach  as well as privately owned properties to the north. This includes existing and increased future risk to the Lighthouseproperty. This violation of SBPF’s existing permit resulted in a removal order which was upheld by Superior Court, and is still outstanding.

The Commission did include a condition in the OOC requiring SBPF to provide the deficit, at least 105,465 cubic yards of sand, to the system. However, they are allowing SBPF a period of 10 years to deliver the mitigation that was a requirement of their prior permit,  and the plan for how this is to be accomplished has yet to be determined. The applicants are required to provide such a plan for Commission approval.

The project’s path forward is not entirely clear. The Select Board must negotiate a new Memorandum of Understanding with SBPF and ultimately draft and vote on a new license agreement. Before they can do so, the Town of Nantucket must secure a positive vote on Article 81 from Town Meeting for permission to lease/license our Town owned beach to SBPF for the construction. The NLWC strongly opposes Article 81 and the authorization of a lease/license of the public beach for this project.  We opposed the geotube expansion and we are opposed to the Article as drafted because not only would it allow the expansion but it is also too broad. Article 81 would undermine Annual Town Meeting’s ability to exert influence on alternative erosion control projects at this location in the future.
 
Nantucket Needs Your Presence & Support at Annual Town Meeting (ATM), which begins on Saturday, May 3rd to Vote this Article Down! Please Mark Your Calendars for ATM and Stay tuned for further updates and more information on our opposition to Article 81!


Resources:
Throughout the public hearing process the Conservation Commission was provided with a multitude of submissions from the NLWC's Coastal Engineer Trey Ruthven of Sustainable Coastal Solutions, and the Greenhill's Coastal Engineer Dr. David Kriebel as well as members of the public. All of the submissions from the hearing can be found through the Town's website.


We would like to highlight several submissions clearly demonstrating the negative impacts that geotubes have had on the adjacent beach as well as the downdrift coastal bank.

1. Slideshow: Impact of the Geotube on the Beaches of Nantucket's Eastern Shore, submitted by Dr. David Kriebel on August 2, 2024

2. Report: Impact of the Geotubes on the Beaches of Nantucket's Eastern Shore, submitted by Dr. David Kriebel on August 2, 2024

3. Visualization: Quantifying the Sand Deficit & Mitigating Sand vs Downdrift Loss, submitted by Nantucket resident Doug Rose on September 19, 2024

4. Visualization: Sconset Beach after a Decade of Geotubes, submitted by Nantucket resident Doug Rose on January 10, 2025

NLWC Launches PFAS Well Testing Reimbursement Program

October 29, 2026
The NLWC is pleased to announce the launch of our PFAS Well Testing Reimbursement Program , an initiative aimed at reducing financial barriers to drinking water testing and improving accessibility to informed drinking water decisions. Made possible by the Nantucket Land & Water Council’s Water Fund, with generous support from ReMain Nantucket and the Madaket Conservation Association . PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) are a group of widely used synthetic chemicals found in many everyday products. Often referred to as "forever chemicals" because of their persistence in the environment, PFAS can enter groundwater and contaminate drinking water supplies . Long-term exposure to certain PFAS has been linked to a range of adverse health effects. For Nantucket residents who rely on private wells, testing is the only way to know whether PFAS are present in their drinking water . The Town of Nantucket Health and Human Services Department offers PFAS well testing through Barnstable County Laboratory, with test kits available at 131 Pleasant Street.

MassDEP Casts Doubt on 'Sconset Beach Geotube Expansion

September 10, 2026
On August 31st, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) issued a letter rebuking the efforts of Siasconset Beach Preservation Fund (SBPF) to expand the geotube project on Sconset Beach . Nantucket Land & Water Council (NLWC) along with over a dozen Nantucket residents, including members of the Nantucket Coastal Conservancy (collectively “Appellants”), appealed the Conservation Commission’s March 2025 approval of an Order of Conditions for the geotube expansion. Now seventeen months later, DEP’s letter dated August 31, 2026, casts grave doubt on whether the expansion project will be approved by the state agency . T his setback follows the denial of a license for the project at Town Meeting last spring.

Letter from the Nantucket Waterkeeper

September 1, 2026
To the Editor,  This letter is about the water situation on the island. As the Nantucket Waterkeeper, I measure the water levels in our aquifer every month (a half-century tradition of the Nantucket Land & Water Council) at ten wells across the island from ’Sconset to Madaket. These wells are simply metal or pvc pipes installed just far enough below the surface to reach and measure the ups and downs of our aquifer. This data is used by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and Mass Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). It's also available to the public on USGS’s website- The exact well used to determine if we’re in a drought or not is well #228 . You’ll notice that it continues to trend downward. With the exception of two very shallow wells in Madaket which have shown some recovery from recent rain, the other seven wells across the island continue to trend downward.
MORE NEWS