ST. CROIX — The head of the Virgin Islands Department of Planning and Natural Resources discussed grant funding for pump station upgrades to prevent sewage discharge into the territory’s harbors during today’s episode of “Comes with the Territory” on WTJX-TV, Channel 12 in addition to capacity challenges with implementing the Comprehensive Land and Water Use Plan that will be presented to senators on Tuesday.
Planning and Natural Resources Commissioner Jean-Pierre Oriol also discussed his department’s efforts to remove hurricane-damaged vessels from territorial waters in addition to providing public library status updates to include construction progress and timelines for reopening.
A collapsed sewer line in Norre Gade on St. Thomas resulted in sewage flowing into the Charlotte Amalie Harbor in September during the same time the Virgin Islands Waste Management Authority experienced a collapsed line in Anna’s Retreat and pump failures in the Cancryn area. Sewage overflowed from three manholes in downtown Christiansted on St. Croix in October due to a malfunctioning pump at the LBJ Pump Station. It was not the first time for the pump to fail either.
Whether it is the collapsed Norre Gade sewer line or the failed pump station on St. Croix, Oriol said sewage has flowed into the harbors in Christiansted and Charlotte Amalie.
“The harbors where the sewage leaks have taken place are not typically where anybody really swims, but we do know that the bacteria levels in the harbors have been high,” he said.
In fact, an individual who was working to salvage an insured vessel from Charlotte Amalie Harbor spoke with WTJX in October.
He said he started the job on September 13 but was forced to postpone it because so much bacteria was in the harbor. He said a sample of the water the crew paid to get analyzed revealed bacteria above the levels safe for swimming. He said he was assisting someone who got sick for a couple of days with nausea, vomiting, sore throat, and skin irritation after entering the harbor in a wetsuit during the salvage attempt.
While Oriol noted the Waste Management Authority has put up signage in the sewage-impacted areas, he said DPNR continues to monitor the swimming beaches for bacteria on a weekly basis to inform the community whether it is safe to swim.
Oriol, a WMA board member, discussed a report shared during a board meeting in September that revealed 19 pumps had failed at the Authority’s 33 pump stations, representing 61% of the pumps. He said DPNR manages Clean Water Act grants from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that allows the department to sub grant funds to utilities for drinking water and clean water.
“One of the things we did shortly after the September meeting is meet with Waste Management, get a cost from them to replace all 33 of their pumps, and so we have now agreed to sub grant them $5 million to replace or buy backups for all 33 of their pumps,” he said. “So, they’re right now in the process of trying to source all of those materials.”
In addition to identifying funding to upgrade the pump stations, DPNR has finalized its Comprehensive Land and Water Use Plan that it will present to the Committee of the Whole on Tuesday.
“What this focuses on is the visioning for the territory, and so it really outlines the different sectors that we feel need to be addressed,” Oriol said. “It establishes some goals and policies in each of those sectors. But we really wanted to focus and agree on what the vision for the territory moving forward would be.”
Once the CLWUP gets approved, Oriol said DPNR will pursue efforts to address the regulatory issues, including updating the Virgin Islands Code.
“First we wanted to make sure that we could get agreement on the goals and policies and get those codified and then move forward from there,” he said.
While discussing challenges toward implementing the plan, Oriol noted capacity and funding as his primary concerns.
“I think capacity, no matter where we are right now, is going to be the biggest challenge,” he said.
The capacity concerns include the ability for DPNR to be able to enforce the plan, Oriol said. If DPNR requires the relocation of a certain industry, the commissioner also discussed a funding obstacle.
“If we call for a certain industry to move from one portion of the island to a different portion of the island, what does that capital look like in order to bring that to fruition?” he questioned.
When working on the Comprehensive Land and Water Use Plan, Oriol said DPNR tried to adopt funded plans other government agencies are advancing.
Oriol said although DPNR knew a presidential disaster declaration was approved following Tropical Storm Ernesto, which hit the territory on August 13, the department moved around local funding to be able to start the process of removing storm-damaged vessels from the harbors.
“We are actually in the final stages of our contracting for the removal of six of eight vessels in the St Thomas District,” he said.
On St. Croix, Oriol said DPNR recently received price quotations. He said the department is anticipating receiving awards from the Federal Emergency Management Agency by early January 2025.
DPNR has two options that would prevent the department from paying for the cost of removing abandoned vessels from the harbors in the future, Oriol said. He said one option would be to require mooring holders to purchase insurance.
“The issue would become that the cost for the salvaging of the vessel could be just as costly as the vessel itself,” he said, noting it could cost up to $40,000 to remove a 50-foot boat. “Insurance on that cost alone is going to be something that is pretty substantial.”
The other option would be to charge boat owners an environmental fee, Oriol said. He said there are about 4,600 registered vessels in the territory. If DPNR charged each owner $100, he said the department would have $460,000 available to salvage vessels.
In addition to ongoing efforts to remove abandoned boats from the harbors, DPNR is making progress toward completing construction necessary to reopen public libraries on St. Thomas, St. Croix, and St. John.
The Charles Wesley Turnbull Regional Public Library in Anna’s Retreat on St. Thomas is under construction and on schedule for completion in March 2025, Oriol said. He said DPNR is anticipating having a ribbon cutting toward the end of March or early April 2025.
The Athalie McFarlane Petersen Public Library on Strand Street in Frederiksted remains under construction, Oriol said. The Elaine Ione Sprauve Public Library and Museum of Cultural Arts on St. John is expected to reopen by February 2025 following staffing issues that must be addressed.
“Comes with the Territory” reairs at 7 p.m. today and 8 p.m. Monday on WTJX-TV, Channel 12. It is also available on demand on the free WTJX app.
