July 21, 2008 — Coral Bay got some help Monday when the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency awarded a $300,000 grant to the Coral Bay Community Council for help in solving the area's storm water problems.
"We applaud the Coral Bay Community Council for having demonstrated such devotion to protecting the bay," EPA Regional Administrator Alan J. Steinberg said at a ceremony outside the V.I. National Park Visitors Center.
Steinberg also handed out the agency's annual Environmental Quality Awards to V.I. National Park education specialist Laurel Brannick, V.I. Waste Management Authority engineer Mirko Restovic and the V.I. Resource Conservation and Development Council. The awards were previously announced and are given to people and organizations with outstanding contributions in protecting the environment.
Community Council President Sharon Coldren said that after several years of evaluating Coral Bay's storm water runoff problems, the $300,000 grant will enable the organization to move on to solutions.
National and local agencies joined with residents to put together a storm water management plan. Work on implementing ways to keep Coral Bay from turning brown from storm water run when it rains is expected to begin in October. The program should take two years.
"We also anticipate that the lessons learned will be used in the rest of the Virgin Islands and the Caribbean," Coldren said.
Steinberg spoke as if he was a one-person St. John fan club. "It's one of God's garden spots. It's one of the most beautiful islands in the world," he said.
He was equally generous with his praise for the three Environmental Quality Award winners.
"Educating the next generation makes a difference," Steinberg said when he handed a plaque to Brannick.
While all the winners got applause, Brannick's was especially loud.
A group of children from the Housing, Parks and Recreation Department's summer camp chorused "thank you, Miss Laurel." The children gave Brannick a bouquet of red roses and balloons.
Brannick spends her days on the job in the classroom and at the park's trails and beaches teaching children about the park's natural attributes.
"I truly have a wonderful job," she said.
Restovic thanked EPA for all its assistance in bringing the territory's sewage treatment plants into EPA compliance. "Due to the recent influx of money, we have three state of the art treatment plants," he said.
Lillian Moolenaar, a member of the Resource, Conservation and Development Council, accepted the award on behalf of the council.
Learn more about the Coral Bay Watershed Management Plan by visiting the community council website.
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