MAINE PUBLIC • May 4, 2022
Help could finally be on its way for Saco's efforts to keep the sea from destroying more waterfront properties at Camp Ellis. Sen. Susan Collins announced Wednesday that she's secured funds in a pending appropriations bill to re-engineer a problematic jetty. Camp Ellis has lost dozens of homes to the ocean, as a 150-year old jetty sluices strong waves straight at its shores, scouring out its beaches and sending replenishing sands from the Saco River farther afield. The city and the U.S. Army corps of engineers have struggled for more than a decade to agree on a specific remedy. But on Wednesday a key Senate Committee unanimously approved a proposal by Senator Collins, who sits on the Appropriations Committee, to include $45 million dedicated to the effort in a pending bill that finances ongoing Corps water resource projects.