Sands of Glass : Encinitas Hopes Synthetic Grains Can Shore Up Eroding Beaches

That was during the late 1960s, when Dalager, then a North County lifeguard, and his surfer friends romped along soft beaches and buried each other neck-deep in the shifting, sensuous sand.

But Dalager's sandy playground disappeared--eroded by vicious storms and the hand of man.

Now, decades after the vanishing grains drove him from the beach, Dalager is getting serious attention for a wacky-sounding idea he hopes will one day restore the North County shore to the beach of his memories.

His synthetic sand, fashioned from pulverized recycled glass is, Dalager says, darn close to the real thing. It looks authentic, feels like the real stuff, even runs through your fingers like the real McCoy.

The match is close enough to intrigue Encinitas officials who hope imitation sand can provide a long-sought solution for its near-barren coastline and at the same time create a needed market for recycled glass.

If so, they say, it would mark the first time nationwide that synthetic sand--made from materials that otherwise might have crowded some landfill--has been used as beach cover.

In some ways, Dalager says, his blend of weird science is even better than Mother Nature's brand. Synthetic sand can be produced in various shapes, grain sizes and colors. Best of all, those multicolored grains could be used in scientific studies on annual erosion.

As he sat on the rocky shore near Moonlight Beach, Dalager poured some of his sand from a Mason jar and let it run through his fingers, prizing it like a jeweler sifting a pile of rubies.

"Look at this stuff," said the Encinitas parks and recreation commissioner. "It's absolutely beautiful."

Go ahead, call him The Sandman. That's what excited Encinitas officials do. In recent months, they have begun to look at funding further studies of the sparkling, man-made grains, which they have dubbed "Dalager Sand."

Recently, geological engineers consulted by the city gave an initial thumbs-up to the product, and the San Diego Assn. of Governments is searching for a $10,000 state grant to examine other immediate questions: Is the stuff dangerous? Would it cut people's feet? Will it wash away soon after being dumped on the area's sand-starved beaches?

Encinitas officials are jubilant at the thought of such an unexpected solution to the beach erosion problem. Although pulverized, recycled glass has recently been used by the city of Los Angeles in a road-paving substance known as "glasphalt," using it along the coast is an entirely different story.

"Nobody ever thought of putting this stuff at the beach," said Dave Wigginton, the city's director of community services. "All the engineers we've talked to can't understand why the idea wasn't thought up before."

There are some aspects of their plans for Dalager Sand that city officials still aren't prepared to discuss. But City Councilwoman Anne Omsted, who said she may introduce a new wrinkle on the topic to the council as early as Wednesday, believes the synthetic sand may just pan out.

"It's going to work. It's going to work big time," she said. "Dalager Sand is definitely going to be a source of sand for our area in the future--not the \o7 only\f7 source, but it's part of the puzzle that wasn't there before."

Steve Sachs, a senior planner with Sandag, said a decision on a funding request to study the idea will come in January. But he already sees the idea as one that might kill two pesky birds with one sandstone.

"If you think about it, it's really an elegant solution to two environmental problems," he said. "On one hand, you have this recycled glass without much of a market. On the other, you've got this great need for sand at the beach."

Dalager, a thin man who dresses in gas station-style work shirts, finds satisfaction in having his idea accepted after years of silent ridicule.

"It wasn't so much outright scoffing," he said of the initial reactions. "It was more of a rolling of the eyes. But I could hear the laughs every once in a while."

For the onetime avid body surfer, there's the excitement of being able to do something to improve a beach atmosphere he enjoyed for so many years.

"Everyone asks me what I'm getting out of this whole thing, and, financially, the answer is nothing, not a red cent," said the 41-year-old father of two, who runs a tool-sharpening business with his brother.

"Ideas are a dime a dozen, but you have to act on them. For me, it was a project that made people think I was nuts at first. And, three years from now, nobody's going to remember who thought of this stuff first. But I will."