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Small But Vocal Group Lambastes Waste Management Plan

Nov. 13, 2007 — Business and environmental interests joined forces Tuesday night decrying the environmental user fees (EUF) proposed by the V.I. Waste Management Authority (WMA), saying the fees portend economic hardship, are nightmarishly complex and lack environmental vision.
The criticism came from a handful of the two dozen individuals who attended a public hearing on St. Thomas to discuss details of the plan, which will be decided Nov. 28 by WMA's regulatory agency, the Public Services Commission (PSC).
Dockside Bookstore owner Jonathan Gjessing told the crowd WMA's proposed new import fees could spell the end of his Havensight store: "I won't be able to pass on the costs, so I'll have to cut expenses somewhere or go out of business."
"It's so complex, it's unmanageable," lamented Tom Brunt, an owner of MSI Building Supplies and chairman of the St. Thomas-St John Chamber of Commerce.
"The proposed EUF does not encourage or promote responsible environmental behavior," said Dalma Simon, reading a statement on behalf of the Environmental Association of St. Thomas-St. John (EAST). The association claims the plan does not do enough to emphasize the "three Rs method" — recycle, reuse, reduce.
WMA Executive Director May Adams-Cornwall fielded the various concerns, vacillating between offering counterpoints and acknowledging new information or perspectives, which she assured the crowd would be examined by WMA and the PSC before anything is set in stone.
The plan calls for imposing a tax on most imports to the territory based on their weight. That funding would, in turn, cover disposal costs as bottles, cans, plastics and other products enter the waste stream. In addition, the WMA proposal would double sewage bills immediately, then continually increase those bills by 15 percent annually for 15 years. The $50 currently paid by property owners for public sewer service would ultimately rise to $600.
At least one audience member expressed support.
"I think it's really quite reasonable," said Helen Gjessing of the need to raise sewage costs, adding, "Sewage, when it's not handled properly, can do so much harm — even more than solid waste." Nevertheless, Gjessing, mother of Jonathan and a long-time environmental activist, asked, "I wonder whether it couldn't be phased in gradually. This is a terrific shock."
According to WMA, the territory faces a waste-management crisis with the generation of 11 pounds of waste per person, per day — more than double the per-capita waste of mainland communities — in large part because of tourism. All the territory's landfills are out of compliance with federal regulations, which results in huge fines if not addressed, according to WMA. And operating expenses exceed current revenues, a subject of controversy for years, prompting the establishment of WMA in 2004. The new plan is intended to generate a budget of $49 million for the authority, $1.2 million of which would go toward recycling programs.
However, the critics lambasted various elements of the plan Tuesday, including assessing an import tax based on weight, as well as the authority's proposal to offer a special exemption for recyclers.
Enrique Rodriguez, owner of Rodriguez Auto Parts, asked what the authority would do in the case of a businessman who imports 30,000 tons of a beverage, and is taxed based on weight, but who then returns all the beverage containers for recycling purposes. Will WMA reimburse him the full tax paid based on 30,000 tons, since no waste was generated? Or will the reimbursement be based on the fractional weight of the redeemed containers?
"It's just so cumbersome," Rodriguez said of the plan. "Everyone is going to come in with an angle. It seems like it could become a nightmare. The cost to the consumer is going to be staggering."
The whole notion of collecting waste-management fees up front through imports, rather than at the disposal site, is unfair, complicated and does not encourage environmental thinking, Rodriguez and Brunt argued.
"This fee structure does not encourage a business to import environmentally friendly products, it encourages us to import lighter products," Rodriguez said. What about the car dealer who imports an environmentally friendly hybrid car, as opposed to the typical car? Is there an allowance for that, Rodriguez pressed.
He and Brunt said the only fair system was tipping fees, or money collected at the waste-management site. WMA says studies show tipping fees encourage illegal dumping along roadsides and waterways, driving up collection costs. But the two businessmen protested.
"As a proud Virgin Islander, I take offense" Rodriguez said. "You're taking the attitude that we're going to punish the entire community because a few bad apples won't do tipping fees."
"We're a business," Brunt said. "We're not going to dump it in the bush."
Another point of contention had to do with WMA's plan to shift away from the current bin-collection system to a house-to-house collection system. WMA claims it would cost approximately $11 a month, per household, for the collection service, which would also include collection of recycling. That, in turn, would reduce landfill costs.
Brunt argued that the $11 estimate did not reflect the across-the-board increase in consumer goods the authority's plan would trigger in the territory as businesses passed along the new import fees.
Cornwall acknowledged that it was worth taking a closer look at the proposed shift away from bin collection. "That is something we should look at, and do a comparative study," she said. However, she added that most WMA bins are parked on private property, and ultimately need to be relocated if not removed.
EAST blasted WMA for "an overall lack of information" in its report and capital-improvement plans correlating with the proposed EUF: "EAST urges the VIWMA to seek tried, tested and sound environmental solutions such as the three Rs, instead of what appears to be draconian methods which compromise the environment and unfairly tax the entire population for the irresponsibility of a few."
Cornwall said public comment on the plan is welcomed and encouraged up until Nov. 28.
(For further background on this story, please see: "Waste Management Authority Unveils Fee Schedule," "Environmental User-Fee Hearings Draw Strong Reactions, Small Turnout" and "Senators Frustrated by WMA lack of Progress.")
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