The V.I. Port Authority’s runway extension project on St. Croix has been stopped indefinitely because dust blowing into a downwind community is causing health problems.
On Thursday, the Port Authority board of directors voted unanimously to halt the project after meeting with representatives of the Estate Yellow Cedar homeowners association, its attorney and an attorney for the Department of Planning and Natural Resources. Last week, DPNR issued the Port Authority a notice of violation because "fugitive dust" coming from the work site was affecting nearby residents.
DPNR ordered increased controls to mitigate the dust and told the Port Authority to come up with a plan within five days to relocate the residents and to move them within two weeks.
Port Authority Executive Director Gordon Finch said Friday that "the board simply decided, after hearing from the representatives of Yellow Cedar and DPNR yesterday, and after being shown specific items reflecting the severity of the dust problems . . . nothing short of immediately stopping the project would protect the well-being and safety of Yellow Cedar residents."
The situation, Finch said, will "accelerate" the Port Authority’s efforts to purchase property in Yellow Cedar and to permanently relocate the residents.
The four-phase runway extension project at the Henry H. Rohlsen Airport has been on the drawing board for years with the goal of accommodating larger, long-range aircraft operated by major airlines and charter operations. The $18-million project, in its first phase, will extend the existing runway from 7,600 feet to 10,000 feet and is 90 percent federally funded.
But to accommodate the extension and meet safety requirements some 65 families in Yellow Cedar have been or will be displaced. A similar situation occurred when the Port Authority had to take 18 properties when the existing runway was constructed.
Last week, Finch was adamant about continuing the work because of funding and construction schedules put in place by federal agencies. Nonetheless, Sen. Alicia "Chucky" Hansen argued that the federal government would understand the delay if the project was stopped for a short time because of health issues.
Hansen, who said she is in full support of the runway project, said many Yellow Cedar residents are coughing, suffering from eye and skin irritation and living with a constant coating of dust.
"I tried to convince (Finch) that the health of our people comes first," Hansen said. "We need time to relocate our residents prior to the construction of the runway."
Finch, meanwhile, said it was anyone’s guess when work on the project will resume. "I do not know, and I don’t think that anyone else knows either," he said.
He said the current phase was to have been completed in about 90 days. "We still hope to be able to complete it as soon as possible, but based on the directions of the VIPA Board, the project will recommence if, and only if dust abatement and health-safety safeguards which are approved by the Virgin Islands government and the residents of Yellow Cedar can be put in place."
