Long Beach Studying Sand Erosion Project In Wake Of Recent Sinkholes
LONG BEACH (CBSLA) — There are new efforts in Long Beach to fight natural beach erosion, but could they be causing sand sinkholes?
A pilot project is using pipes and pumps to move sand, to reduce the use of bulldozers on the sand near the Claremont launch ramp in Long Beach. The project will last one month and costs $300,000.
But there is concern that the new method is creating sinkholes. Just last week, Long Beach firefighters were called to a construction site near the waterline to help a woman whose leg became stuck in a sinkhole just as the tide was coming in.
Efforts to dig the woman's leg out were hampered by the rising tide, but firefighters and marine safety personnel were able to get her free in about 20 minutes, according to the Long Beach Post. She was assessed for hypothermia, but did not suffer any further injuries.
The city says it is studying if there is a connection between the sand pumping project and the two sand sinkholes that recently occurred.