Puerto Rico's Secretary of Governance, Norma Burgos Andújar, met Friday at La Fortaleza with Loíza Mayor Julia Nazario Fuentes to discuss municipal issues, chiefly coastal erosion affecting Streets 3 and 10 in Parcelas Suárez. Nazario Fuentes said the situation has involved the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources (DRNA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), and expressed confidence the project could move forward.
Burgos Andújar, a licensed planner, reviewed the case file and pledged prompt action, noting erosion also affects other parts of Puerto Rico and requires joint efforts by the central government, federal government, and municipalities. The article cites a July 2026 study by the Puerto Rico Coastal Research and Planning Institute (attached to UPR's Graduate School of Planning) finding 75% of north-coast beaches show erosion.
It also references a U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) project on coastal changes in eleven north-coast municipalities (2022-2023), led by UPR geologists Maritza Barreto Orta and Kevián Pérez Valentín with USGS oceanographer Legna Torres García, funded by a $499,000 two-year competitive grant. The study found 75% of analyzed beach transects showed erosion, with beach width reductions between 0.01 and 92 meters, while 25% showed accretion of 0.01 to 154 meters.