HOUSTON (AP) - Texas' General Land Office has canceled a $40
million beach renourishment project in Galveston because a recent
state Supreme Court finding has put in question who owns the beach.

Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson says a contractor was set to
begin laying down sand Monday on six miles of beach on Galveston's
west end.

The project was to protect the beach from erosion, an especially serious problem when hurricanes and other large storms batter the island.
 

But the Supreme Court says the state can no longer use the line
of vegetation to determine the boundary between public and private
land.

Patterson says the Nov. 5 ruling makes it unclear whether the
stretch of beach is public or private.

As a result, he says he has canceled the expensive project.