LAKE ERIE BLUFF RECESSION AND SETBACK REGULATIONS FOR BUILDING - LITERALLY A ROLLER COASTER CHALLENGE

A theme park on the Lake Erie bluff at Erie, Pennsylvania is in the process of trying to get an exception from the Bluff Recession and Setback Act, P.S. 5201 to allow the building of a roller coaster over the face of the bluff. State officials have mixed reactions to the petition and at least two lawsuits have been filed in opposition. Aside from the political considerations that are present there may seem to be some valid considerations in favor of removing the site from the protection of the Act. The toe of the bluff is over 70 m (215 ft) from the armored shoreline of the lake and appears unlikely to be undercut by wave action any time soon. A brief inspection of the slope found no major signs of instability aside from some water seeps about halfway down the slope with tilting trees and minor sediment flows. The inspectors warned that the stratigraphy for the lower half of the slope was unknown to them and they could not in good faith recommend that the slope was stable for building but that did not deter the proponents. Strong scientific reasons exist in opposition to the removal of the bluff from legal protection, however. I have measured seventy meters of unprotected sand flat that was been removed in one season within a few miles of the site and the theme park has no control over the armor on the beach. The water seeps on the slope show that most likely ground water is being forced out of the slope face as springs or seeps because that is where impermeable diamict underlies the permeable sand of the upper slope just as occurs in many areas along the shore that I have mapped. These unconsolidated sediments are necessarily saturated much of the year and are inherently unstable. Add to these factors the shaking of the entire package every few minutes by the towers of a roller coaster and stability is further compromised.