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HomeNewsArchivesRESEARCH SUPPORTS FILLING LINDBERGH BAY 'HOLE'

RESEARCH SUPPORTS FILLING LINDBERGH BAY 'HOLE'

Island Resources Foundation (founder Edward Towle and early collaborators Bob Van Eepoel and Maynard Nichols, going back to the Caribbean Research Institute days at the College of the Virgin Islands) was instrumental in presenting the concept to fill in the "Lindbergh Bay hole" in a series of proposals dating back to the early 1970s.
Over the years, Island Resources Foundation and our collaborators have probably studied the local geomorphological aspects of coastal erosion, sedimentation and siltation more than any other group in the region. (The term "geomorphological" refers to the study of the shape of geological features such as points or bays and how they influence and are influenced by other elements such as current and wind patterns.)
We recently received a request for our background on this issue from an individual close to the situation who noted that the hotel owners on Lindbergh Bay are against depositing the spoil there. One theory, our contact noted, is that filling in the hole would leave the hotels more at risk from storm surge and coastal erosion. This individual said he believes, on the contrary, that filling in the hole would have the effect of improving water quality in the bay and lessening the erosion due to normal wave action, and that the hole does not provide the hotels any protection during a storm surge.
None of our studies or any other work that we know of would support the notion that filling the hole in Lindbergh Bay would have any appreciable effect on storm surge or coastal erosion processes.
Based on the studies we have conducted, we were and are confident that the problem of constant siltation and turbid water quality in Lindbergh Bay stems from the particular depth and shape of the single deep hole that was dredged in the bay (in connection with the construction of the St. Thomas airport the 1930s).
During calm periods, the hole is filled with very fine silt, most of which was generated during the dredging process itself as a by-product of the technologies then employed. This silt quickly goes into suspension during storms and possibly when stirred up by inland floodwaters flowing into the bay. This pattern is relatively common in the Caribbean. Water Bay, St. Thomas, and the area by the seaplane base on St. Lucia are other places where it may be seen.
In our surveys of Lindbergh Bay, we identified the original depth of the water prior to the dredging and then developed a proposal to fill the hole with pieces of debris or sand or other suitable material in order to bring the water to its previous depth. This would enable the bay to resume its "normal" low turbidity and full flushing, which would improve water quality over the conditions encountered in the last 50 or 60 years.
We remain convinced that this is a viable proposal.
With specific reference to the current proposal to use some of the spoil from the dredging of the St. Thomas harbor, we would probably support such a proposal, as long as individual loads of fill were closely monitored to be sure they were free of toxicity and that the fill was of a proper-size material – that is, no fine silt. These are conditions that we have always proposed for filling Lindbergh Bay.
It should be noted that these two conditions are not issues necessarily addressed in most "ordinary" dredging projects. And we expect that there would be extra costs involved in accommodating them in the course of operations for the St. Thomas harbor dredging project.
On the other hand, with these issues properly addressed, we see no significant medium- or long-term risk in filling the existing dredge hole in Lindbergh Bay. However, residents should be advised that there will be short-term increases in turbidity as the fine particle matter in the existing hole are displaced one last time by the new fill.
Once the deep hole is properly filled to the old bottom contour, we would expect significant increases in water quality in the bay.

Editor's note: Bruce Potter is the president and Edward Towle chairs the board of Island Resources Foundation Inc., an educational and research organization headquartered until last year at Red Hook on St. Thomas and now based in Tortola and Washington, D.C. They encourage anyone with ideas on the subject of depositing material dredged from St. Thomas harbor into Lindbergh Bay to join the "Island Systems and Coastal Zone Information Services" e-mail list (by sending a totally blank message to virmc-subscribe@egroups.com) and to post their thoughts to the other subscribers by mailing to virmc@egroups.com.

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