May 19, 2004 – New Tutu residents learned Tuesday that government officials were covering up a bad smell with a better smell only temporarily. Covering up the smell of a sulfide with a peroxide worked for the neighborhood odor problem, but it is expensive. Funding for a permanent solution to the sewer problem has yet to be achieved, according to testimony at the Senate Planning and Environmental Protection Committee.
The sewer line serving New Tutu is more than 40 years old. Earlier reports indicated a private developer installed the lines without proper planning and the project was then turned over to the government, but nothing has ever been done to rectify the problem. See Queries on New Tutu Sewage Ills go Unanswered
Public Works Commissioner Wayne Callwood arrived a half hour late, but this was better than the last meeting addressing the problem when, to the chagrin of many of the residents, he failed to show up at all.
Sen. Roosevelt David remarked that Callwood was lucky he hadn't attended the previous meeting. "Those residents would have lynched you," he said. At that meeting last month about 40 residents gathered, many expressing anger and frustration at the lack of progress and attention given to the problem. Callwood said Tuesday that his department has employed Viesco, which operates the wastewater facilities on St. Thomas and St. John, to study the problem. It was thought for years, Callwood said, that the odor was created from the New Tutu wastewater treatment plant. However, that facility was decommissioned last year, and the odors remain.
New information, according to Callwood, shows that residents in some instances have built too close to the sewage lines and some have manholes in their backyards.
Tom Ryan, Viesco president, made a plea for residents to call his office directly with problems. He said he and his team have made many visits to the area and have found the odor caused by:
– An aging sanitary sewer collection system;
– Pump station inadequacies and wastewater retention times that were too long;
– Growth and development in the area without adequate sewer facilities;
– And lack of clear understanding of the problem by current officials.
Solutions have been implemented in the last month, which have brought temporary relief to the residents. Some manhole covers have been temporarily sealed with plastic to cover large gaps, which allowed gases to be released. The team also found some concrete manhole covers ajar or cracked.
The manholes cannot all be covered completely as gases will accrue and could explode. They must have a vent, Ryan and Callwood noted.
For a two-week period last month during Carnival, officials pumped hydrogen peroxide into the manholes to cover up the smell of hydrogen sulfide backing up because of an inadequate pump station, Ryan said.
The peroxide was used during the two weeks of no smell, Ryan and Sonya Nelthropp, DPW senior manager for the federal compliance program, said. "However, we used all the peroxide on the island," Nelthropp continued. "It cost $125 a day. Then we had to use potassium magnate, which is more plentiful, but costs $350 a day."
Karen Isaac, 36-year Tutu resident and spokeswoman for the residents' group, expressed displeasure over a lack of resolution. She criticized Callwood. "He is just talking rhetoric. I've called him hundreds of times with no response. The only way I could get Ms. Nelthropp was to block in her car at the post office. We are spinning our wheels."
Isaac retired after 20 years as a DPW administrative assistant. Asked after the meeting why she couldn't get anything done during her tenure at DPW, she raised her hands. "Nothing has changed. They don't listen."
Isaac blessed the two-week period with the peroxide treatment. "We were calling each other, we were so excited; we thought we had found a solution." Isaac said the peroxide had a slight chemical smell, but "that is welcome by comparison."
Nelthropp said more peroxide has been ordered and is on the way. Ryan said they are putting in biofilters over the manhole covers, which will help get rid of the smell, along with pumping more peroxide into the system.
When Callwood said that the smell had abated in the area, the audience of about 20 residents came to life, with shouts of "no."
Callwood said that more than $2 million is needed, maybe as much as $4 million to complete the long-term solution – new gravity sewer lines to the gravity main on Brookman road and the elimination of a pump station.
Sen. Almando "Rocky" Liburd quizzed Callwood on plans for the new project. He wanted to know where they were, if Callwood could produce them. Callwood demurred. He said that because of the destruction caused by hurricanes, DPW doesn't currently have any engineering drawings identifying where the sanitary sewer lines are located. "This makes identifying problem areas more difficult," he said.
Dowe said that the Public Finance Authority had not even met yet on the bonding. "The Legislature passed those bonds months ago, and the PFA hasn't acted." he said. "
Dowe and Liburd suggested writing Gov. Charles W. Turnbull, PFA chair, urging him to take action on the bonds. The PFA must authorize all bond sales by the government.
Sen. Louis Hill, committee chair, was clearly vexed by the lack of attention DPW is getting from the administration on the issue. He told Callwood, "I suggest you communicate with the governor and the area residents and tell them what is going on. This has gone on for far too long."
Hill said he had invited Ira Mills, Office of Management and Budget director, to the meeting, but Mills had declined the invitation. Hill read a letter from Mills who said he must "give full attention to the fiscal year 2005 budget which must be submitted to the Legislature by May 28."
Committee members Sens. David, Dowe, Adlah "Foncie" Donastorg, Hill, Liburd, and Shawn-Michael Malone attended the meeting. Sen. Ronald Russell, committee vice-chair, was excused.
Back Talk
Share your reaction to this news with other Source readers. Please include headline, your name and city and state/country or island where you reside.
Publisher's note : Like the St. Thomas Source now? Find out how you can love us twice as much — and show your support for the islands' free and independent news voice… click here.
