The chairman of the Coastal Zone Management Commission said Thursday he was outraged to learn that a 100-foot breakwater had been built illegally on the Magens Bay shoreline "in front of everybody's eyes, and no inspector and no one at Planning and Natural Resources noticed."
Albert Paiewonsky called for AT&T of the Virgin Islands to remove "every stone" used to build the breakwater, which was constructed by AT&T without a permit, according to the Department of Planning and Natural Resources.
AT&T spokeswoman Shelly De Chabert said the company wanted to know why the Notice of Violation and Assessment was issued by DPNR months after the work had been completed.
The notice, issued Aug. 1, ordered AT&T to dismantle the breakwater within 30 days and fined the company $100,000.
DPNR legal counsel Julita de Leon said on Wednesday that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers discovered the breakwater during a routine inspection "around the island."
"I find it incredible," Paiewonsky said, "that barges filled with stones stood in Magens Bay and no one questioned it."
In fact, a resident who lives near the breakwater said this week that he had called Planning and Natural Resources, AT&T and CZM numerous times about the construction, only to be told a permit had been issued.
Paiewonsky said it was particularly galling because Magens Bay has been identified as an "area of particular concern" by both the CZM and the U.S. Interior Department. What that means, he said, is that "We must maintain above-average vigilance over the bay." He said he "definitely" expects DPNR Commissioner Dean Plaskett to force AT&T to remove the structure.
"For too long," Paiewonsky said, "we have accepted that large corporations are allowed to do things like this and to pay for mitigation. They must be made to bring it back to where it is supposed to be, not just pay a fine and forget about it."
In August 1999, according to the violation notice, AT&T requested permission to "repair the ocean ground connection which services the six underwater fiber optic cables" located near where the breakwater now stands. The company was given permission to make the repairs, the notice said. But a letter from Plaskett dated Aug. 25, 1999, granting the permission specified that the repairs were "to exclude any additional work on the site," according to the notice.
De Chabert said AT&T has requested a conference with DPNR, "as is allowed" when a notice of violation is issued. She could not say when the conference would be.
A permit was issued, De Chabert said, but the question is whether "what was done was part of the permit." She said AT&T was still on a "fact-finding mission."
