Environmental Protection Agency officials are in St. Thomas to begin the cleanup of toxic substances from a V.I. government-owned warehouse in Sub Base.
Public Works and Property and Procurement employees will assist but EPA will be in charge of removing potentially lethal chemicals from the building, according to a report in Tuesday's V.I. Independent.
The V.I. government will pay for the cleanup and subsequent decontamination, the Daily News reported, quoting EPA-V.I. coordinator Jim Casey as saying, "We're finding it to be a little too frequent." Casey said EPA will work with V.I. officials to prevent similar toxic contamination in the future.
EPA will ship the hazardous materials off-island because the territory has no toxic-waste sites.
Items found in the warehouse include corrosive and flammable liquids, two acetylene cylinders, waste oil and paint.
Many of the containers are corroded and missing labels, and were stored with no regard to their hazardous content, EPA officials said.
The building, located in the heart of Sub Base, was leased in June 1998 to businessman Mel Plaskett for $4,585 a month. Plaskett hasn't paid any rent because the government hasn't removed the toxic contents.
He has committed to paying at least $300,000 to upgrade the building once the cleanup is completed, according to the Daily News.
