Clay builds on Island beaches

By SCARLET O’ROURKE

Special to the PRESS

Isla Blanca Park is known for beach fun, dolphins, jetties and …clay?

In front of the first pier on the park, there is a wall of clay riddled with sharp shells and assorted garbage along the shore-line. The water is a dark grey color with a dank smell coming from the area of high clay concentration.

At the beginning of the year, it was decided that the Brownsville channel had too much sand and the beaches needed more. The solution was to dredge the channel and recycle the sand through the beach nourishment project, but with the sand came mass quantities of clay.

After extensive clearing work by the Army Corps of Engineers, which headed up the project, residents and visitors still believe that more needs to be done to beautify the beach for the upcoming tourist season.

Daniela Gomez, 18, was walking along the beach with her friend and expressed dissatisfaction with the presence of clay on the shore-line. “It looks nasty and it’s going to end up bringing a bad (reputation) with the summer vacationers,” Gomez said.

For more on this story, pick up a copy of the May 19 edition of the Port Isabel South Padre Press or check out our E-edition by clicking here.

Permanent link to this article: https://www.portisabelsouthpadre.com/2011/05/19/clay-builds-on-island-beaches/

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

 

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.