Judi Shimel
An enforcement team from the federal Environmental Protection Agency got what they came for Wednesday night at a public hearing on cleaning up the Bovoni landfill: acknowledgement that the problems are real and acceptance that failure to address them will bring sanctions the local government can ill afford.
Leonard Grossman and Phil Flax told a gathering of about 30 people at the Education Department Curriculum Center in Anna's Retreat that they wanted to hear their concerns before starting the clock on an enforcement order awaiting the signature of EPA Region II director Jeanne Fox.
Various public and private entities with interest in the St. Thomas landfill testified. Officials of the Planning and Natural Resources and Public Works Departments, Fire Services authorities and contractors spoke frankly, telling Flax and Grossman they should expect a slow response by the V.I. government and lengthy delays in compliance.
Discussion focused on an administrative order and consent decree that Public Works Commissioner Harold Thompson signed in February. The order calls for the government to set up a series of timetables to reduce hazardous waste and increase security at the landfill and streamline solid waste management.
Plans for compliance with the first two mandates, which address proper storage and disposal of waste oil and lead-acid car batteries, are to be submitted within 90 days of the order's signing. Flax told the audience he and Grossman are prepared to pressure the Turnbull administration to do what it must to stop acids and waste oil from seeping into the groundwater.
"This order is going to force the government to come into compliance with federal regulations," Flax said. "If we have to take it to the courts, that's an option. We hope we won't have to do that."
Sonia Nelthropp, Public Works technical assistant for waste management, told the EPA officials that the administration had received $5.4 million from the Interior Department to administer compliance projects such as those for Bovoni. She said Public Works is ready to use a portion of the funds for security fencing, managing waste oil and batteries, processing scrap metal and reducing infringement of a mangrove lagoon situated at the dump.
The EPA officials spelled out the penalties for non-compliance: The V.I. government is subject to fines of $100 to $500 a day for steps not taken within 90 days of the order's signing.
After the meeting, Planning and Natural Resources chief of enforcement Leonard Reed noted that the government has pleaded poverty numerous times in court when assessed for environmental violations.
Flax said he was aware of the government's track record on compliance, its financial straits and the concurrent EPA demands for clean water compliance in the St. Croix waste water system. He said Thompson and Gov. Charles Turnbull knew what they were doing when they signed the administrative order and now will be held accountable.
When PNR attorney Devin Carrington asked if failure to comply could lead to criminal charges, Flax replied, "even if we knew about it, we couldn't say."
Fire Chief Merwin Potter raised an issue of particular interest to the EPA officials. He said he is concerned about the role Fire Services would have in developing an evacuation plan in the event of a methane explosion at the landfill. For years, experts have said Bovoni is sitting on several methane pockets caused by decomposing waste that have the potential to erupt.
The administrative order calls for a study to be made of underground landfill fires and for recommendations for reducing their frequency to be submitted within 120 days of the order's signing. Flax said Potter raised an important point and that the fire chief's concerns would be passed along to Fox.
May 1 is the deadline for the public to submit written comments on the landfill issues to the EPA. After reviewing such comments and the input from Wednesday night's hearing, Flax said, Fox will probably sign the enforcement order "sometime this summer."
