Fact: I provided the scientific and actual evidence to the City Manager to give to the City Council. In New Jersey, a college coastal group has measured beach profiles for about 30 years. They are independently funded, beholden to no one. Their report produced for Long Beach Township, profiled their beaches last September and several days after Sandy.

Every Army Corps project had zero wash-over onto properties, especially one completed in early 2012. All beaches without corps projects were greatly damaged and over-washed, causing major property damage.

While the Army Corps’ dunes may have been damaged, they are the first to be replenished, as would our own in Long Beach if we had only approved the 2006 Army Corps plan. The Army Corps’ successes convinced New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie to direct the corps to protect the state’s entire 130-mile coastline.

Consider Tropical Storm Irene: Long Beach’s West End is lower than the rest of Long Beach. Irene did not wash over the West End’s minuscule dunes, but it flooded the main oceanfront part of Long Beach and caused tremendous damage.

Sandy, of course, wrecked the city. If the city had approved the 2006 corps plan, which required a 17-foot dune and long berm like they had in New Jersey, there would have been zero ocean damage. Proof: As I mentioned, the Army Corps’ New Jersey projects had approximately 17-foot-high dunes and a long depth berm in front, with zero ocean damage. Sandy, at its strongest, struck southern New Jersey, but was less than maximum strength when it struck here.

In reply to my last column, Kupferman wrote, “… His feeling is that we must take the corps plan as it was presented in 2006. To me this is moving backward.”

Sadly, his comment just does not reflect reality. The corps has the science and evidence on its side and it should not change its plans.

Outside of some possible, very minor, changes, the 2006 corps plan must be accepted as it is. This is the only way the Long Beach can obtain sand in the near future. If the corps has to make any significant changes, the entire plan must be reformulated, which will take several years and create horrendous problems.