N.J. resort short of boardwalk wood

OCEAN CITY, N.J., Jan. 19 (UPI) -- A controversial plan to repair the boardwalk in a Jersey Shore resort with tropical hardwood appears to have bogged down.

The city council in Ocean City voted this week to find a Baltimore lumber supplier in default. The Louis J. Grasmick Co. has delivered only a tiny percentage of the wood needed to replace the decking in a block-long section of boardwalk, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported.

A decade ago, Ocean City -- a family-oriented resort that began as a Methodist camp meeting -- promised not to use lumber from the rain forest. But Mayor Sal Perillo, when he signed a contract with Grasmick, said the wood -- ipe from the rain forests of South America -- met standards set by the Forest Stewardship Contract, a German-based organization dedicated to rain forest preservation.

Perillo received 50,000 protest e-mails from all over the world, and environmentalists picketed his office.

With Memorial Day less than six months away, some council members want to use whatever lumber the city can get or has on hand.

"I'm ready to grab a hammer and volunteer to help, if I can get in the union," said Councilman Scott Ping. "This is something that has to get done before the season."

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