Steve Cyphert of Buffalo, New York casts his line while fishing for striped bass from the Jetty at Camp Ellis in Saco Tuesday, July 6, 2021. Shawn Patrick Ouellette Photo/Portland Press Herald

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senator Susan Collins announced Friday, Dec. 16, that Congress has passed the National Defense Authorization Act with a provision she championed authorizing $45 million for a permanent solution to the severe, ongoing erosion at the Saco beach community of Camp Ellis. The NDAA is the annual defense spending authorization bill that sets the military’s priorities and policies. It passed the Senate by a vote of 83-11 and the House, which voted last week,  by a vote of 350 to 80, Collins said in a news release.

On Dec. 16, the bill was on its way to the president’s desk to be signed into law.

The $45 million authorized by the NDAA will ensure that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has the full funding necessary to construct a 750-foot spur jetty off the existing jetty and replenish 365,000 cubic yards of beachfront, Collins said.

“This funding is a major victory for Camp Ellis and will finally provide a solution for residents who have lost dozens of homes over generations,” said Collins. “As a senior member of the Appropriations Committee, I worked to secure this investment that would finally resolve this problem, protect property, and permanently restore the beachfront.”

Saco Mayor Bill Doyle in a prior interview praised the efforts of Collins and House Rep. Chellie Pingree for their diligence in the matter. He said the next step in the process is to enter into a Project Partnership Agreement with the U. S Army Corps of Engineers that must be completed before the project can proceed.

More than 150 years ago, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers built a jetty extending out from the Saco River, adjacent to Camp Ellis Beach, and expanded it in the 1950s. This jetty altered the pattern of currents and sand deposition and is the primary cause of the severe erosion of Camp Ellis, washing away 38 homes, noted Collins. The 1998 shoreline was 400 feet from where the shoreline stood in 1908.