Just days after open burning at the Tortola dump brought the latest cloud of ashtray-like conditions to Coral Bay, Gov. John deJongh Jr. announced that work on installing the incinerator at Tortola’s Pockwood Pond dump is 90 percent complete. The incinerator is expected to put an end to the open burning.
Work is supposed to be done this month, with the 100-ton-per-day incinerator fully operational by the end of June, the governor said in a press release. He said that was four months earlier than the original completion date.
After numerous complaints from Coral Bay area residents and the territorial government, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency started monitoring the air in Coral Bay in December 2010 with two monitors placed in separate locations.
“There was very minimal detection in terms of pollutants. It’s an insignificant level,” Jim Casey, the EPA’s St. Thomas-based coordinator said. He said it was not anywhere close to a level that would trigger further action on the part of the EPA.
The EPA continues to monitor Coral Bay’s air. However, one of the monitors had to be shut down because the resident who volunteered the location moved. Casey said the EPA needs to send a team from the mainland to evaluate other locations.
While the EPA’s monitors might not have found any pollutants, the smoke has caused complaints from residents of burning eyes and throats, and dirt on their roofs.
“Just the particles can cause irritation even if it’s not chemically dangerous,” Coral Bay Community Council President Sharon Coldren said.
Installation of the Tortola incinerator won’t come one minute too soon for residents. Coldren said it was “great” to get an end date and hopefully an end to the problem that has plagued Coral Bay for several years.
DeJongh’s announcement came on the heels of a meeting Thursday with British Virgin Islands Premier Ralph T. O’Neal in Tortola to discuss shared issues.
