Billionaire accused of bulldozing dune

East Hampton, New York, was the site of a beautiful beach dune that nature took 3,000 years to build.

But local officials say that a billionaire property owner bulldozed the dune and a patch of protected vegetation almost in a wink. The alleged culprit is Ron Baron, founder of Baron Capital Management. Baron's purchase of the property last year for $103,000,000 was the most ever paid for a residential property.

According to some accounts, the dune apparently wasn't even on his property. It was near it, but not on it.

If Baron did indeed demolish the beach dune, he stole something from all of us. And they should fine him back to the age at which the dune began forming. Anyone who'd destroy the dune has a sense of entitlement they don't deserve.

But his lawyer said the 15-foot-high dune was just a "pile of dirt." How self-righteous can one get?

(Source: http://www.newsday.com/news/local/ny-lidune1012157731nov10,0,7656096.story)