While V.I. Fire Service crews had the Anguilla Landfill fire mostly contained last Saturday, smouldering garbage still was smoking Monday.
Chief Roberto Santos said Monday that crews were at the landfill from 7:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. directing heavy-equipment operators on where to dump dirt brought in to cover smouldering spots. Although there are no open flames, Santos said the landfill will be closed indefinitely.
"We’re not accepting any debris until such time as we’ve secured the landfill," he said. "What we’re doing is covering the smoldering with dirt."
The fire broke out late Friday morning. While investigators don’t know its exact cause, Santos said that "more than likely it was a methane burst."
The heavy-equipment operator "who was out there Friday said he saw a burst of flame," Santos said. "But being it is a landfill, there is nothing conclusive."
The latest landfill blaze is the fifth in two years.
The V.I. government has been ordered by the Federal Aviation Administration to close the Anguilla landfill because the birds it attracts are a danger to incoming and outgoing aircraft. The FAA wants the facility shut down by December 2002, or else million of dollars in grants the Port Authority has received for a runway extension project could turn into loans.
