Declarations

We’re All Duned

“It’s like the Three Little Pigs. If you build a dune of straw that’s too small, it will collapse when the hurricane huffs and puffs.”

—Tim Dillingham, executive director of the American Littoral Society, a N.J. coastal advocacy group, commenting on a brewing political controversy in Atlantic City. Property owners and local officials want to lower 15-foot natural dunes to improve beach views in the city. Advocates and state environmental officials say it’s a bad idea because dunes act as “speed bumps” to blunt the force of storm surges.