ST. CROIX — Three weeks into his new role as executive director of the Virgin Islands Waste Management Authority, Hannibal “Mike” Ware said the most critical issues he is focused on are keeping sewage from flowing in the streets and maintaining clean and safe bin sites.
“That’s the things that in my first 21 days I’ve been very much on top of,” Ware, former inspector general of the U.S. Small Business Administration, said. “Right now, it’s building a culture of urgency where we address issues and address them very quickly and build the systems to ensure that they don’t happen.”
As trash littered the Cotton Valley bin site over the weekend amid illegally dumped appliances, furniture, and green waste, the site quickly transitioned into an eyesore due to overflowing bins and household garbage strewn about the ground. Although WMA officials returned to work on Monday, there was no immediate cleanup effort at the site. It was still cluttered Tuesday morning.
Ware said the issue with the Cotton Valley bin site as well as all garbage-scattered bin sites territory wide can be traced to a common root cause — broken WMA equipment and the absence of a maintenance and replacement plan. He said it is something he is working to change immediately. He said he was already addressing the root causes, noting that he visited the Cotton Valley bin site Tuesday morning and saw its condition. He said he pulled the entire Solid Waste team into meetings Tuesday morning to address the root causes and provide his expectation that “this type of thing is unacceptable.”
Ware said the reason there was an issue at the Cotton Valley bin site was because the Authority’s machines broke down. He said, however, that WMA was scrambling to find backup equipment to clean up the site. He said he was assured that the site would be cleaned up by Tuesday afternoon, and indeed it was. A small pile of appliances that remained were removed today.
Ware said just about every piece of WMA equipment at his disposal is broken and needs to be repaired. In addition to meeting with his Solid Waste team Tuesday, Ware said he also met with his employees responsible for managing the Authority’s equipment and vehicles to have them understand the word urgency.
While WMA manages the Cotton Valley bin site in house, it has contracted that responsibility to Marco St. Croix for the bin sites in Mon Bijou and Concordia.
WMA experienced an equipment failure at the Anguilla Landfill on Monday that reduced the number of bins that could be hauled to the dump, Ware said.
“The contractors could not collect the bins in a fashion that we would normally have them do it because there was no place to place the trash,” he said, adding that the equipment was subsequently repaired and normal operations resumed at the landfill.
In addition to poorly maintained equipment and machinery creating issues for WMA, the Authority’s operation at the Cotton Valley bin site is impacted by all the appliances, furniture, electronics, and green waste that routinely get illegally dumped.
“It puts a huge strain on the operations,” Ware said. “We’re not exactly designed to take those types of materials at those sites. This is part of the public education campaign that I’ll be leading that ramps up very shortly.”
Illegal dumping at the bin sites in Mon Bijou and Concordia also create more work for Marco St. Croix.
Signage at all three bin sites on St. Croix informs the community that the sites are for residential use only. The signs read, “do not dispose of the following items,” listing photos of seven items — appliances, furniture, electronics, green waste, used oil, hazardous waste, and auto parts. The signs indicate that such items should be taken to the landfill, while tires should be disposed of at the dealer where they were purchased. While the signs are clearly visible at the bin sites in Mon Bijou and Concordia, the one at the Cotton Valley bin site is partially covered by overgrown bush.
In order to prevent illegal dumping at all the bin sites, WMA installed surveillance cameras last year. Ware said, however, the cameras are not capable of reading license plates in the dark. He said he has also charged his enforcement team with the task of consistently monitoring the bin sites, particularly after hours. He requested that residents also report illegal dumping to WMA by taking down license plates. He also discussed plans to stop illegal dumping at the bin sites in Cotton Valley and Concordia by installing perimeter fencing like at the Mon Bijou bin site and closing them at night. He noted the long-term solution is to transition the bin sites into convenience centers like the one in Peter’s Rest.
“It starts with education,” he said. “It goes hand in hand with enforcement. And it goes hand in hand with us securing our sites.”
Although Marco St. Croix was busy removing bins filled with household waste today at the Mon Bijou bin site in addition to using an excavator to clean up garbage from the ground, a pile of appliances, wood pallets, cardboard, trash bags, and green waste remains in the middle of the site. It is something Ware would like to see removed to the landfill.
“It’s a current goal,” he said. “It has to be dealt with.”
There is also a pile of used tires at the bin sites in Mon Bijou and Concordia. Ware said there is no tire shredder at the landfill but stressed that the tires need to be moved from the bin sites.
“That’s part of a more long-term plan that I’m not ready to unfold yet,” he said, noting his plan includes a comprehensive way to address waste management.
A section of the Concordia bin site is also dedicated to containers filled with used cooking and motor oil. Some of the containers have no lids, resulting in an overflow of motor oil onto the dirt. The number of containers with used motor oil is even worse at the Anguilla Landfill, resulting in overflows that have turned sections of the brown dirt to black.
Ware said removal of the oil-filled containers at the Concordia bin site and landfill are also part of his comprehensive plan, noting that all efforts will adhere to regulations imposed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. As the oil sits and leaks into the ground, Ware said it has not been collected because WMA has financial issues with the contractor responsible for its disposal.
After finishing his first three weeks as the Authority’s new leader, Ware said he is fully aware of all the agency’s issues.
“I’m on top of them in terms of finding a smart, efficient, effective way to address them rather than a piecemeal solution to everything that has the agency in the position the agency is in currently,” he said. “We can’t keep doing the same thing and expect a different result. I have a more coordinated way to address all this. It will be unveiled shortly.”
