May 24, 2007 — The underground fire at the Anguilla landfill on St. Croix should be a big worry for residents, V.I. Waste Management Authority Director May Adams Cornwall told the Senate Planning and Environmental Protection Committee Thursday.
"Every day you go to sleep and you're glad you wake up," said Cornwall, a St. Croix resident, at the committee’s meeting on St. Thomas.
She contacted Williams Fire and Hazard, the company that put out the Susannaberg landfill fire on St. John some years ago, to make a proposal for dealing with the fire through the Anguilla landfill operator, A-9, Cornwall told the committee.
This prompted Sen. Alvin Williams, who chaired the meeting, to complain that the project should go out for bid. Just because one company put out the Susannaberg fire doesn't mean that the same company should get this contract, he said.
Waste Management could request bids, but to do so would delay putting out the fire, Cornwall responded. However, she promised to revisit the matter.
The agency does not have money in its budget to pay for extinguishing the fire, so it would have to ask the Legislature for a supplemental appropriation, she said, adding that she doesn’t know what it would cost.
"The fire suppression is going to be costly,” Cornwall said. “It's not a cheap process.”
It will take the better part of a year to put out the fire, she said. Before Williams asked her to put the fire-suppression project out for bid, she said work would start by mid-summer. Since the fire is burning toward the middle, it's in danger of collapsing, she said.
Efforts to relocate the Anguilla landfill, as mandated by the Federal Aviation Administration because of a bird problem, have been unsuccessful, Cornwall said. Negotiations with the St. Croix Renaissance Group, which owns the old Harvey Alumina property near the Hovensa refinery, were unsuccessful after Renaissance imposed conditions Waste Management didn’t like.
Sen. James Weber said he doesn't think Waste Management will find another location because of permit issues and reluctance from neighbors to have a landfill nearby.
"My feeling is we'll have to reduce volume," he said.
Williams was also upset that there are 800,000 old tires sitting at A-9's facility near the Bovoni landfill on St. Thomas. He wants the company to be fined for illegally storing the tires.
Two weeks ago the company began bailing up the tires to ship off island, but it's a slow process, Cornwall said. Several earlier attempts to ship the tires off island were not successful, she said.
Cornwall asked the senator to pass legislation to mandate that tire sellers accept used tires when they sell new ones. Williams countered that he would not impose any more taxes on residents while no one's been fined for the 800,000 tires sitting near the Bovoni landfill. People who abandon vehicles get hit with a $1,000 fine while A-9 isn't paying anything, he said.
Cornwall acknowledged she wasn't happy with the pace of getting rid of the tires at Bovoni. People continue to leave old tires, appliances and more at garbage bins although they're supposed to take them directly to the landfill, she said. When that happens, the contractors who haul garbage from that bins dispose of them at Waste Management's expense, she said.
People also continue to dump tires and big items in the bushes and at illegal dumps, Cornwall noted.
The committee also heard from two Bovoni-area residents who complained about conditions at the landfill.
"That dust is just killing us," said Bovoni Homeowners Association secretary Rosita Howard. In addition, she said, contaminated soil from the Tutu Texaco station gets dumped at the Bovoni Texaco station.
The hauler of that contaminated soil tried to dump it at the Bovoni landfill but got stopped because the company didn't have a permit, Cornwall said. She told the senators that she expects the environmental user’s fee, which will help fund Waste Management, will begin to roll out in fiscal year 2008. The fee schedule needs Public Services Commission approval, she said.
The charge will be assessed on goods coming into the territory based on the impact they will have on the waste stream, Cornwall said, adding that Waste Management has a $34.2 million budget for 2007.
During Thursday's meeting, committee members also approved:
— a minor Coastal Zone Management permit allowing the St. Croix Country Club to install a removable access ramp (the applicant will be assessed an annual $500 fee);
— a major Coastal Zone Management permit that will allow Don and Tammy Kilpatrick to rehabilitate an existing hurricane-damaged dock in Estate Nazareth and construct a new gazebo on top of the dock; and
— a minor Coastal Zone Management permit that allows St. Croix resident Frank Duggan to continue to use and occupy a 465-square-foot wooden deck located near Teague Bay.
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.
