Beach erosion does have a "permanent" solution: Holmberg Technologies (www.erosion.com). Holmberg's passive methods have over 30 years of credible documentation --university studies, professional engineering reports and the empirical data-- to attest to its success, environmental soundness and sustainability. NC's great Hugh Morton attempted to get Topsail to go forward with a demonstration project of this technology years ago. Unfortunately for Topsail citizens, its natural environments and its sealife, the dredging and coastal consultant industries have sold officials on highly profitable beach nourishment projects which are environmentally devastating and fiscally/physically unsustainable. Beach nourishment is a starvation diet causing more beach erosion and habitat destruction. Erosion is not natural; most of it is now manmade especially from navigational dredging and offshore sandmining for beach fill. In many ways, we are losing our coastlines to greed, not erosion. We do have alternative methods which are more cost effective both for the taxpayer and the environment. Holmberg is the best documented of these. Jerry Berne Sustainable Shorelines, Inc. (www.sustainableshorelines.org) Sustainable Shorelines is a nonprofit corporation dedicated to documenting current environmental events on our shorelines, identifying and seeking to change those coastal policies and practices which are harmful and advocating protecting our coastal habitats and the ecosystems these support with methods proven to be environmentally sound and sustainable.