With repairs to the LBJ Pump Station force main completed, the bypassing of sewage over Long Reef ceased Tuesday afternoon, according to a release from the V.I. Waste Management Authority.
The force main burst Saturday, causing WMA to divert the flow of sewage over the reef while making repairs.
That section of St. Croix’s sewer system has been plagued with periodic leaks and burst pipes for many years, as decades-old ductile iron pipes became corroded and weak. WMA is in the middle of replacing about 1,300 feet of old pipes in the vicinity of LBJ Housing Community.
This most recent break is separate from that work and affected a section of pipe right next to the LBJ Pump Station.
"We replaced 20 feet or less," WMA Executive Director May Cornwall said Wednesday. "We were able to put it in and get in and out when we discovered it."
The work is complete and will have no impact at all on the annual St. Croix Half-Ironman Triathlon this weekend, Cornwall said.
After replacing the 1,300 feet of old pipe around LBJ Housing Community, WMA plans to replace several bad sections around JFK Housing community, then to continue on up the road in the direction of Questa Verde, she said.
Roughly 800 or 900 feet of pipe have been replaced so far, Cornwall said. As more and more pipe is replaced, force main failures are expected to become less and less frequent.
Meanwhile, although repairs are complete and the system is running again, those with weakened immune systems are being urged to keep avoiding areas of St. Croix’s north shore near Long Reef until the Department of Planning and Natural Resources declares the beach safe for water activity.
