Kennebunk, ME Coastal Erosion Rate
Is the coast eroding 5.2 miles south of Kennebunk, ME?
Good news, and an honest one: USGS's data can't distinguish this stretch, 5.2 miles south of Kennebunk, ME, from a flat trend. Whatever small movement it measured here is statistical noise, not a reliable direction, so none is claimed.
What this reading actually covers
USGS surveys the coast in transects spaced a few hundred feet apart; this page groups the nearest ones into a single ~3.5-mile reading for the stretch closest to Kennebunk, ME, rather than showing one arbitrary line. Segment center: 43.31, -70.57. The survey behind it runs to 2007-2009, in USGS's New England / Mid-Atlantic assessment, using the LRR method. Shoreline surveys aren't repeated every year, so this is the most recent long-term measurement USGS has published for this coast, not a live reading.
Where this fits nationally
This reading comes from 49 individual transects averaged together, 20% of which measured erosion rather than growth. Uncertainty on this specific number: 0.45 ft/yr either side. The unadjusted figure here, 0.18 ft/yr, would place it 911 of 1211 if ranked directly - but an unreliable rank isn't a useful one, which is exactly why "no significant trend" is the headline instead. Source: USGS Open-File Report 2010-1119. Moss Landing, CA sits at national rank 958 for growth (0.27 ft/yr), one reference point among the 1211 scored segments, 2703 miles from here. 1.8 miles away, Kennebunk, ME is the nearest other measured stretch: also no significant trend.
Kennebunk, ME on the source map: try the Coastal Change Hazards Portal, zoomable well past this page's ~3.5-mile grain.