Documentary Review: Shored Up

Shored Up, directed and produced by Ben Kalina. USA: Mangrove Media 2013. 84 minutes, $23 limited edition DVD; $295 educational DVD, distributed by Outcast films.

Hot summer days and golden beaches in front of the boardwalk: these images of the “shore” in New Jersey are iconic pieces of Americana. Superstorm Sandy wiped this tranquil, idyllic area bare and brought a renewed focus on the effects of climate change, economic development, and disaster-preparedness to the heavily populated Eastern seaboard of North America and around the world. Shored Up, a film by Ben Kalina, compares different perspectives about the direction of development in littoral areas of New Jersey and North Carolina by talking to residents, engineers, and civil leaders.

This is a classic story of humans verse nature. Barrier islands comprise 50 percent of the mainland United States coastline and form a wall of earth and sand that block waves and storm surges. These natural defenses protect the land from the ocean’s wrath. However, in many cases people have constructed homes and businesses as close to the sea as building codes allow. Island shorelines naturally shift, imperiling these developments. Disasters like Superstorm Sandy accelerate the process.

Shored Up investigates New Jersey’s approach to protect economic development, which focuses on human engineering, along with North Carolina’s approach that focuses on maintaining natural defenses and closely regulating the location of homes and businesses. The film mixes expert voices from the engineering community, leaders of affected towns, and citizens who live in these communities and use the beach daily. This combination gives the film a sense of scientific knowledge and local insight.

New Jersey’s Long Beach Island, which serves as a case study in this film, is a typical barrier island that has been subject to extensive development. In the past century, this island has seen a tremendous boom of houses, hotels, restaurants, and waves of tourists. Sections that were once grassy marches have been paved over and small pockets of this crenulated shoreline have been turned into marinas. Efforts made by coastal engineers protect these developments against natural forces. The film provides an in-depth look at replenishment projects that take millions of cubic tons of sand from offshore and rebuild eroded beaches. These attempt to maintain the historical shorelines on which million-dollar new homes now rest. But, as Superstorm Sandy shows, while projects address issues of immediate concern, they may ultimately be futile against the force of nature.

North Carolina shows a contrasting position. Regulations have prevented development in the Outer Banks, and particularly the implementation of controversial projects such as groins (perpendicular walls that extend into the ocean and are intended to fight beach erosion). While these structures protect some homeowners, they are also responsible for additional erosion elsewhere. Voices against these developments point to New Jersey and note that allowing the construction of groins creates a precedent for additional development, as property owners on each successive stretch of beach demand that their homes be protected from the problems caused by the original constructions.

As Shored Up discusses, beach projects can be reduced to a question of priorities. In many cases, the dominant priority has been the protection of homes and physical structures on the shoreline. However, it has been pointed out that there are other non-economic benefits for these shorelines. The value and purpose of these beaches, it is argued, reflect a variety of users: swimmers, surfers, and many species of animals and plants.

These developments also raise issues of economic equality. While beach renourishment projects have been credited with saving homes during Superstorm Sandy, they predominately favor expensive investment beachfront homes that sell for millions of dollars. Current renourishment regulations require that the value of the homes protected is of equal or greater value than the project cost. This encourages heroic engineering efforts and enables additional high-dollar development in an unsustainable cycle. Many people interviewed in this film question the wisdom of using federal and state monies for these projects.

As Shored Up notes, current engineering developments are unable to address broader problems caused by sea level rise. The science in calculating and understanding the rate of this inundation is complex and includes the expanding volume of warmer water, the melting of glaciers, and the slow subsidence of beach areas as a result of ongoing tectonic deformation. The end result however is skepticism that groins and beach nourishment projects can cope with the worst case scenarios plotted by climate scientists.

The film touches on, but does not dwell over, the troubled political fault lines that so quickly polarize many environmental debates. This is particularly seen through the debate over sea level rise and politics in North Carolina. In this case, economic interests attempted to remove consideration of accelerated sea level rise. Voices in the environmental and scientific communities felt that this was shortsighted. However, the director provides ample space for both sides of the argument to be heard and helps the viewer to understand the many facets of this debate while coming to their own conclusions.

Some viewers may feel that the film places too much focus on certain engineering aspects such as beach renourishment. While no doubt this is a major issue in the development discussion, it occasionally takes on an overriding role which detracts from the films central message and focus.

Shored Up is a film about hardening the shoreline: both the physical built environment and the entrenchment of economic interests that encourage continued development. Facts, logic, and science typically guide policy-making decisions, but the director uses the voices of average working class people who lost everything in Superstorm Sandy to provide a final cautionary voice in this development debate. These focus the viewer’s thoughts on the wisdom of continued engineering or allowing shorelines their natural peregrinations.

The ‘Shored Up’ Educational DVD (distributed by Outcast Films) includes closed captions and bonus scenes. Also the DVD is broken down into several subject selections including coastal science, economic effects and social impact, which makes it easy for anyone wanting to use this film in their pedagogy.

Scott McKenzie is a PhD student in Resource Management and Environmental Studies at the University of British Columbia. He has a Bachelors of Arts in Environmental Studies, Philosophy, and American Studies from the University of Kansas and a Juris Doctorate from the University of Iowa. His work considers the relationship between the natural environment, human development, and law.

To find out more about the film please see here.