Wilma Marsh-Monsanto told lawmakers Monday that her Bordeaux Mountain restrooms didn't discharge sewage, as National Park Service authorities contend.
Her testimony Monday before the Senate Planning and Environmental Protection Committee in a special session on St. John was collaborated by environmental enforcement agent Leonard Reed. As assistant director of the Planning and Natural Resources Department's Environmental Protection Division, he told the committee, he inspected the controversial Bordeaux outhouses twice.
The first time was in May, he said, and the second was "Friday, the 28th of July." He added, "Our findings are that there were no discharges of waste, and particularly sewage, to the environment."
Monday's hearing was arranged by committee chair Adlah "Foncie" Donastorg after National Park Service officials first blocked the path to the two enclosed toilets with dirt and later removed them altogether.
Marsh-Montanto read from a letter sent to her by park officials stating that sewage had been flowing freely from the facilities.
The Bordeaux overlook property owner said she had operated restrooms for the convenience of visitors for 19 years, almost problem-free until Hurricane Marilyn in 1995. When ventilation and a slippery walkway became problems then, she said, she asked for assistance from the Schneider administration and a contractor was dispatched.
Recently, she said, the owner of Chateau-Bordeaux Restaurant and adjacent shops asked now-retired park Superintendent Russell Berry Jr. if he could help her acquire some of the environmentally friendly restrooms like those at Annaberg Plantation. And that, she said, is when her current problems began.
When Berry asked on whose property the restrooms sat, Marsh-Monsanto said they were on her family's land. Several years ago she won a 12-year court battle against the park service to retrieve almost 100 acres of Bordeaux Mountain.
"Going to court is a huge task, monetary wise and everything, but with the help of God I was able to move into the court and retrieve those lands, even without a hearing." she told senators Monday.
She said she also told Berry that the V.I. National Park has 300 more acres within its holdings that don't belong to it. "I said I intend to come back and retrieve this land," she testified. "So, apparently he got very irate."
Marsh-Monsanto said an Environmental Protection Agency official "came up to the site and said that she had gotten a complaint that there was sewage seeping on the land by Reef Bay." But she said the EPA official made her investigation and said the only problem she could see was "that you need a 4-inch cover to put on a part of the unit" there at the time.
When committee members asked how the complaint of raw sewage came to his attention, Reed said he did not know and that, as far as he was concerned, the report was unfounded.
Representing the park at the hearing was Chief Ranger Schuyler Brown, who indicated in advance that he would not testify on advice of legal counsel. Neither acting Superintendent Judy Shafer nor Friends of the V.I. National Park president John Garrison was present. St. John Administrator Julien Harley, a Friends board member, was present but did not testify.
Sen. Donald "Ducks" Cole called the lack of comment from park officials disrespectful.
Donastorg said relief for the situation might be found in legislation he sponsored to create scenic overlook spaces on St. Thomas, St. Croix and St. John. So far, he said, only St. Thomas has gone forward – with construction of the nearly completed town overlook parking area on Valdemar Hill Sr. Drive, also known as Skyline Drive.
"On the island of St. John, I know we have the Capital Improvement Fund . . . that has money in it and it is specifically freed for St. John," Donastorg said. "We have to take the initiative, take some money out of there."
But he also urged Marsh-Monsanto to try to resolve the situation with the next park superintendent. She said she was willing but urged lawmakers to take action because negotiations could take months. On Wednesday, with cruise ships in the harbor, she said, 500 tourists will be on Bordeaux Mountain and many will need to use "the facilities" that are no longer there.
