In the wake of yet another landfill fire in the territory, the Senate Committee on Planning and Environmental Protection is set to meet to ask the Turnbull administration the oft-repeated question: What is being done to stop the blazes?
In a letter to Department of Public Works Commissioner Harold Thompson Jr. on Monday, Sen. Adlah "Foncie" Donastorg, chairman of the committee, asked about the latest fire at the Anguilla Landfill on St. Croix, which was extinguished four days after it ignited earlier in June. The fire was the sixth this year at the Big Island’s dump.
"I was deeply disturbed to note that St. Croix residents and landfill workers are still being subjected to toxic smoke and fumes from the recent Anguilla Landfill fires," Donastorg wrote. "As these fires were burning out of control, it became obvious that your agency has yet to develop an effective fire-management plan."
Donastorg’s query comes after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ordered the cleanup of the Bovoni Landfill on St. Thomas, which has the same problems as the Anguilla dump, and its announcement that it may take over regulatory control of both landfills.
On May 8, the EPA announced its intention to remove regulatory jurisdiction from the local government. Before it makes the move, however, two public hearings will be held, the first on June 27 at 7 p.m. at the Department of Education Curriculum Center in Tutu on St. Thomas and the second at 7 p.m. on June 28 at the Curriculum Center on St. Croix.
After the hearings, the EPA will make a final decision on whether to formally disapprove the territory’s solid-waste landfill program. The agency expects the process to take at least until August 8.
In early April, the EPA ordered Public Works to clean up the Bovoni Landfill, calling it a threat to human health and the environment. The order, issued with the consent of Gov. Charles Turnbull, is one step short of unilateral action to force compliance.
The clean-up order called for Public Works to begin:
— Conducting random inspections of incoming waste loads, including loads coming from the Susannaberg Transfer Station on St. John, to ensure that hazardous waste is not mixed in with solid waste.
— Training landfill personnel and posting lists of prohibited items throughout the facility.
— Covering the operating face of the landfill with at least six inches of earth at the end of each operating day to control insect and animal infestations and scavenging by people and birds.
— Within 30 days submit to EPA a financial plan for carrying out the order, including the estimated cost of all work to be done and how the government will pay for it.
— Within 60 days ship all used oil being stored at Bovoni to an authorized used-oil recycling facility.
— Fully secure the landfill by installing wire mesh fencing at least 10 feet high, and repair all holes in the existing fencing. The new fencing will include an entrance gate that will be locked when the landfill is not operating.
— Within 90 days ship all lead-acid batteries and battery parts at Bovoni to an authorized recycling facility.
— Submit a plan to EPA to remove and remediate contaminated soil around buried lead-acid batteries. Once EPA reviews and approves the plan, it is to be implemented by the Virgin Islands according to a set timetable.
— Submit a plan to EPA to remediate spilled used oil at Bovoni, similar to the disposal plan for the batteries.
— Submit a plan to EPA to investigate subsurface fires at the landfill. Once EPA has had an opportunity to comment on the plan, the Virgin Islands will begin its investigation. If it is found that fires are burning at Bovoni, the government will within 60 days adopt a plan for putting out the fires.
— Within 120 days submit a plan to EPA to bring the Bovoni landfill into compliance with all federal landfill regulations, including measures for monitoring groundwater and collecting leachate and a timetable for doing the work. The plan will be subject to EPA comment.
— Within 180 days submit to EPA a written plan for the future management of lead-acid batteries and used oil at Bovoni. The plan will include prohibiting the disposal of non-household lead-acid batteries in the landfill and will indicate an alternate location for their disposal.
With the EPA mandates in mind, Donastorg on Monday asked Thompson to be prepared to answer a number of questions at the Planning and Environmental Protection hearing later this month. Those include:
-– The status of the Bovoni cleanup.
–- What steps has Public Works taken to manage underground fires and to extinguish any surface outbreaks?
–- What has Public Works done to monitor and protect the health of residents, landfill employees and other exposed to the smoke and fumes? Has air quality sampling taken place?
–- What was the specific cause of the last fire at the Anguilla Landfill?
In his letter, Donastorg said he was "gravely disappointed" in Public Works' management of solid waste. He said simple and inexpensive security and inspection measures could have eliminated many of the problems now plaguing the landfills.
"DPW continues to jeopardize public health and the environment and I will stay on their case until I see some real progress," Donastorg said.
