Assateague begins cleanup of 2,000 tires

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Assateague begins cleanup of 2,000 tires washed ashore by storm

Despite erosion, flooding and debris, park rangers at national seashore take storm damage in stride
By CHARLENE POLK • The (Salisbury, Md.) Daily Times • November 20, 2009

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Buzz up!Twitter ASSATEAGUE ISLAND, Md. -- While last week's storm wreaked havoc across much of the Delmarva Peninsula, staff at Assateague Island National Seashore simply considered the storm part of the natural processes that are reshaping the island by pushing it westward.




The ways the storm moved sand and water around, park officials say, may even make it easier for some rare animals to survive.


"It was a fairly normal storm event for us," said Rachelle Daigneault, the park's chief of interpretation and education. "It was not as bad as some we've had in the past."


The merging of the remnants of Tropical Storm Ida and a nor'easter that hit the Eastern Shore with rain and wind last week left Assateague, as expected, with a few broken boardwalks and flooded campgrounds. More notable, though, were the 2,000 tires that washed ashore -- presumably torn from a man-made reef off of Ocean City during the storm.


"The tires were the interesting thing for us," Daigneault said. "The reef has been slowly deteriorating, and we get tires on a regular basis, but never have we gotten the number we've had this time."


Greg Hall, president of the Ocean City Reef Foundation, said that the reef, made up of thousands of tires, was put there before his organization existed, probably 20 years ago.


"It was well-intentioned, but a mistake," he said.


Hall, who believes there are a few other tire reefs in the Ocean City area that were installed in the 1970s, said the tires that landed on Assateague could have come from just 3 miles or as far as 13 miles off the coast. He said the fact that the tires, which were filled with sand at the bottom of the ocean, went all the way to Assateague showed how powerful the ocean was.


"The bottom of the ocean can be like an escalator at times," he said. "It's staggering."


Daigneault said cleaning up the tires was the park's first priority, and the town of Ocean City had provided the park with trash bins to put them in. Park staff, as well as volunteer groups, such as the Assateague Mobile Sportsfishermen's Association, started collecting the tires Wednesday.


"That's the type of thing we need to get cleaned up very quickly," Daigneault said.


She said that the few areas of overwash the storm created, where waves wash over the back of the beach, would create habitat areas that could benefit some species.


"It creates a great habitat for piping plovers, which are endangered," she said.


Although parts of the Over Sand Vehicle zone and ocean-side campgrounds are closed until further notice, Assateague remains open. Daigneault encourages area residents to visit the park.


"This is a great opportunity to come out and see how storms impact the area," she said. "Come see the power of a nor'easter and what it can do to Assateague."
Contact Charlene Poke at (410) 213-9442, ext. 19 or cpolk@dmg.gannett.com.