Three decades of virtually unregulated dumping of waste at the territory’s two main landfills has turned acres of paradise into mountains of trash that hide a bubbling cauldron of flammable gas.
For years, assorted household garbage, car batteries, medical waste, used oil, paints aerosols, among other items, have been buried at the Anguilla landfill on St. Croix and the Bovoni landfill on St. Thomas. But what’s out of sight doesn’t mean out of the environment.
Since its inception 20 years ago, the Bovoni landfill has grown to 34 acres, with a mountain of dirt-covered trash 90 feet high, according to a 1999 study done for the V.I. government by the Maguire Group, Inc. Under the fill dirt is some 1.2 million tons of waste, equivalent to more than 10 Destiny cruise ships .
St. Croix’s Anguilla landfill, meanwhile, opened in the mid-1960’s and currently covers 33 acres with 1.9 million tons of waste in place at depths up to 81 feet, according to the Maguire Group report.
But calling either Anguilla or Bovoni a landfill is a misnomer. According to the Department of Public Works’ draft bid packet for a solid waste management facility, the definition of a modern landfill is "usually a lined hole in the ground that is filled with refuse and covered with dirt according to EPA regulations."
But the territory’s landfills, operated by Public Works, are not lined to protect nearby ground and surface water from toxic runoff, nor have they been regularly receiving the industry standard of a minimum of six inches of dirt cover on a daily basis. Essentially the Virgin Islands’ "landfills" are massive dumps.
At a recent Senate Committee on Environmental Protection, Dean Plaskett, commissioner of the Department of Planning and Natural Resources, said covering the daily accumulation of deposited trash at the St. Croix site with the daily requirement of fill has been a problem.
"The most blatant noncompliance is the failure to cover the landfill with six inches of dirt everyday," Plaskett said.
At the same hearing, Roan Creque, special projects director for Public Works, said the Anguilla site hasn’t had a compacter to properly pack the fill dirt and trash "for a while."
Over the years, that lack of proper compaction has fueled what anyone living on either St. Croix or St. Thomas knows too well – acrid landfill fires.

IT’S A GAS, GAS, GAS
The problems brewing under the surface of the territory’s dumps started when garbage was dumped and then covered with dirt. As the dumped trash decomposes a toxic stew is created, replete with a flammable gas.
If compaction isn’t sufficient, however, air pockets form and are filled by the gas produced by the rotting trash. The gas – methane – is colorless, odorless and as residents of St. Croix and St. Thomas know, flammable.
According to the Maguire report, it is estimated that the Bovoni landfill is currently producing 460 million cubic feet per year of landfill gas while its counterpart on St. Croix is producing gas to the tune of 520 million cubic feet per year.
The Maguire study was done to assess whether the methane could be reduced by using a gas-to-energy scheme. Ridding just the Bovoni site of methane is estimated at approximately $15 million.
In the meantime, Public Works Commissioner Harold Thompson Jr. said that while recurring blazes at the Anguilla dump have been quelled for the time being, it’s just a matter of time before another fire breaks out. The same goes for the Bovoni site.
"We know there is subterranean fires beneath the landfill," Thompson said, adding that the department is stockpiling fill dirt to smother the next outbreak of flames.
He said the public can assist by sorting trash and by not placing items such as empty propane tanks in trash collection bins. Public Works personnel try to check each load going into the dumps, but they can’t check everything, Thompson said.
"As long as there is violation of dumping . . . you’re adding more flammable material," Thompson said. "We’re trying to check, but can’t categorically say we won’t have another fire at the landfill."

Three decades of virtually unregulated dumping of waste at the territory’s two main landfills has turned acres of paradise into mountains of trash that hide a bubbling cauldron of flammable gas.
For years, assorted household garbage, car batteries, medical waste, used oil, paints and aerosols, among other items, have been buried at the Anguilla landfill on St. Croix and the Bovoni landfill on St. Thomas. But what’s out of sight doesn’t mean out of the environment.
Since its inception 20 years ago, the Bovoni landfill has grown to 34 acres, with a mountain of dirt-covered trash 90 feet high, according to a 1999 study done for the V.I. government by the Maguire Group Inc. Under the fill dirt is some 1.2 million tons of waste, equivalent to more than 10 Destiny cruise ships .
St. Croix’s Anguilla landfill, meanwhile, opened in the mid-1960’s and currently covers 33 acres with 1.9 million tons of waste at depths up to 81 feet, according to the Maguire Group report.
Actually, calling either Anguilla or Bovoni a landfill is a misnomer. According to the Department of Public Works’ draft bid packet for a solid-waste management facility, the definition of a modern landfill is "usually a lined hole in the ground that is filled with refuse and covered with dirt according to EPA regulations."
But the territory’s landfills, operated by Public Works, are not lined to protect nearby ground and surface water from toxic runoff, nor have they been regularly receiving the industry standard of a minimum of six inches of dirt cover on a daily basis. Essentially, the Virgin Islands’ "landfills" are massive dumps.
At a recent Senate Committee on Environmental Protection, Dean Plaskett, commissioner of the Department of Planning and Natural Resources, said covering the daily accumulation of deposited trash at the St. Croix site with the daily requirement of fill has been a problem.
"The most blatant noncompliance is the failure to cover the landfill with six inches of dirt every day," Plaskett said.
At the same hearing, Roan Creque, special projects director for Public Works, said the Anguilla site hasn’t had a compacter to properly pack the fill dirt and trash "for a while."
Over the years, that lack of proper compaction has fueled what anyone living on either St. Croix or St. Thomas knows too well – acrid landfill fires.

IT’S A GAS, GAS, GAS
The problems brewing under the surface of the territory’s dumps started when garbage was dumped and then covered with dirt. As the dumped trash decomposes a toxic stew is created, replete with a flammable gas.
If compaction is insufficient, air pockets form and are filled by the gas produced by the rotting trash. The gas – methane – is colorless, odorless and, as residents of St. Croix and St. Thomas know, flammable.
According to the Maguire report, it is estimated that the Bovoni landfill is currently producing 460 million cubic feet per year of landfill gas while its counterpart on St. Croix is producing gas to the tune of 520 million cubic feet per year.
The Maguire study was done to assess whether the methane could be reduced by using a gas-to-energy scheme. Ridding just the Bovoni site of methane is estimated to cost approximately $15 million.
In the meantime, Public Works Commissioner Harold Thompson Jr. said that while recurring blazes at the Anguilla dump have been quelled for the time being, it’s just a matter of time before another fire breaks out. The same goes for the Bovoni site.
"We know there is subterranean fires beneath the landfill," Thompson said, adding that the department is stockpiling fill dirt to smother the next outbreak of flames.
He said the public can assist by sorting trash and by not placing items such as empty propane tanks in trash collection bins. Public Works personnel try to check each load going into the dumps, but they can’t check everything, Thompson said.
"As long as there is violation of dumping . . . you’re adding more flammable material," Thompson said. "We’re trying to check, but can’t categorically say we won’t have another fire at the landfill."

A broken sewer pipe Monday has forced the closure of Fort Frederik Beach in Frederiksted, just weeks after another discharge killed thousands of fish.
According to the Department of Planning and Natural Resources, a sewer line near Estate La Grange broke. Personnel from the Division of Environmental Protection collected water samples at the beach just north of the cruise ship pier and then subsequently closed it to the public.
Harold Thompson, commissioner of the Department of Public Works, said contractors had been secured to repair the broken sewer. He didn’t, however, say how long the beach would be closed.
The Carnival Cruise Lines ship the Destiny is scheduled to make its biweekly call to Frederiksted Wednesday morning.
Monday’s west end sewage problem follows another approximately two weeks ago that killed more than 1,100 fish in the canal that runs near the Legislature building at Lagoon Street to the ocean at Fort Frederik Beach.
The fish kill occurred when the Lagoon Street pump station failed and sent sewage into the canal, according to an enforcement officer with DEP. The pollution depleted oxygen and killed some 1,100 tilapia, snook, mullet and crayfish, he said.

A large part of the Virgin Islands tourist tobacco industry may have been shot down by federal legislation that apparently was aimed elsewhere.
A new federal law makes it illegal to bring American tobacco back into the country if it bears a stamp saying it was originally sold for export only.
"All the American cigarettes sold in the Virgin Islands, as far as we can tell, are 'for export only' " William Westman, chief inspector for U.S. Customs based in St. Thomas, said Monday.
St. Thomas retailer Vinnie Mohanani said he learned of the new law over the weekend when a cruise ship passenger visiting his Vissal Duty Free Shop remarked that it was a shame he couldn't take advantage of the low prices on cigarettes. The visitor had been told on board the ship that he would not be allowed to take American tobacco products back home. The ban covers sales both on islands and on ship.
Mohanani faxed a letter to Customs in St. Thomas asking if the law applies here.
"We're trying to get it clarified," Westman said, adding that V.I. Customs staff had been on the phone much of the day Monday. "We have our counsel looking at it" as well as management staff in Puerto Rico.
Westman said his office had not been formally notified about the law but "we heard rumblings about it" because "they are strictly enforcing it in Florida."
American cigarettes brought into the territory for resale are exempt from the Internal Revenue Tax and from duty. Westman said the IRT is $2.40 for a carton of small cigarettes and $5.04 per carton of large cigarettes. The duty is 2.8 percent of the value, plus $1.26 per kilo.
The exemptions translate to a savings of about $8 a carton, a difference that makes it easy for V.I. retailers to give tourists a bargain. The territory long ago developed a reputation as a good place to shop for cigarettes.
"This obviously is going to have a very big impact" on the territory, Westman said.
Between excise and gross receipts taxes, Mohanani estimated the value of cigarette sales to the V.I. treasury at about $20 million a year.
That figure could not be verified with government officials Monday. The Bureau of Economic Development does not keep statistics on tax collections and calls to the Internal Revenue Bureau were not returned.
Westman said it appears the law was directed at wholesalers bringing large quantities of 'for export only' tobacco back into the country and inadvertently caught tourists in a too-wide net.
But it is being enforced at points of entry where disembarking passengers are told to put their cigarettes into bins as they go through Customs, he said. Not even an open pack gets by.
The penalty for ignoring the law is a fine equal to five times the value of the tobacco product or $1,000, whichever is greater.
"I doubt seriously that anyone has been penalized" with a fine, Westman said, but their cigarettes are being confiscated.

A large part of the Virgin Islands tourist tobacco industry may have been shot down by federal legislation that apparently was aimed elsewhere.
A new federal law makes it illegal to bring American tobacco back into the country if it bears a stamp saying it was originally sold for export only.
"All the American cigarettes sold in the Virgin Islands, as far as we can tell, are 'for export only'" William Westman, chief inspector for U.S. Customs based in St. Thomas, said Monday.
St. Thomas retailer Vinnie Mohanani said he learned of the new law over the weekend when a cruise ship passenger visiting his Vissal Duty Free Shop remarked that it was a shame he couldn't take advantage of the low prices on cigarettes. The visitor had been told on board the ship that he would not be allowed to take American tobacco products back home.
The ban covers sales both on islands and on ship.
Mohanani faxed a letter to Customs in St. Thomas asking if the law applies here.
"We're trying to get it clarified," Westman said, adding that V.I. Customs staff had been on the phone much of the day Monday. "We have our counsel looking at it" as well as management staff in Puerto Rico.
Westman said his office had not been formally notified about the law but "we heard rumblings about it" because "they are strictly enforcing it in Florida."
American cigarettes brought into the territory for resale are exempt from the Internal Revenue Tax and from duty. Westman said the IRT is $2.40 for a carton of small cigarettes and $5.04 per carton of large cigarettes. The duty is 2.8 percent of the value, plus $1.26 per kilo.
The exemptions translate to a savings of about $8 a carton, a difference that makes it easy for V.I. retailers to give tourists a bargain. The territory long ago developed a reputation as a good place to shop for cigarettes.
"This obviously is going to have a very big impact" on the territory, Westman said.
Between excise and gross receipts taxes, Mohanani estimated the value of cigarette sales to the V.I. treasury at about $20 million a year. That figure could not be verified with government officials Monday. The Bureau of Economic Development does not keep statistics on tax collections and calls to the Internal Revenue Bureau were not returned.
Westman said it appears the law was directed at wholesalers bringing large quantities of 'for export only' tobacco back into the country and inadvertently caught tourists in a too-wide net. It is being enforced at points of entry, where disembarking passengers are told to put their cigarettes into bins as they go through Customs, he said. Not even an open pack gets by.
The penalty for ignoring the law is a fine equal to five times the value of the tobacco product or $1,000, whichever is greater.
"I doubt seriously that anyone has been penalized" with a fine, Westman said, but their cigarettes are being confiscated.

A large part of the Virgin Islands tourist tobacco industry may have been shot down by federal legislation that apparently was aimed elsewhere.
A new federal law makes it illegal to bring American tobacco back into the country if it bears a stamp saying it was originally sold for export only.
"All the American cigarettes sold in the Virgin Islands, as far as we can tell, are 'for export only'" William Westman, chief inspector for U.S. Customs based in St. Thomas, said Monday.
St. Thomas retailer Vinnie Mohanani said he learned of the new law over the weekend when a cruise ship passenger visiting his Vissal Duty Free Shop remarked that it was a shame he couldn't take advantage of the low prices on cigarettes. The visitor had been told on board the ship that he would not be allowed to take American tobacco products back home.
The ban covers sales both on islands and on ship.
Mohanani faxed a letter to Customs in St. Thomas asking if the law applies here.
"We're trying to get it clarified," Westman said, adding that V.I. Customs staff had been on the phone much of the day Monday. "We have our counsel looking at it" as well as management staff in Puerto Rico.
Westman said his office had not been formally notified about the law but "we heard rumblings about it" because "they are strictly enforcing it in Florida."
American cigarettes brought into the territory for resale are exempt from the Internal Revenue Tax and from duty. Westman said the IRT is $2.40 for a carton of small cigarettes and $5.04 per carton of large cigarettes. The duty is 2.8 percent of the value, plus $1.26 per kilo.
The exemptions translate to a savings of about $8 a carton, a difference that makes it easy for V.I. retailers to give tourists a bargain. The territory long ago developed a reputation as a good place to shop for cigarettes.
"This obviously is going to have a very big impact" on the Virgin Islands, Westman said.
Between excise and gross receipts taxes, Mohanani estimated the value of cigarette sales to the V.I. treasury at about $20 million a year. That figure could not be verified with government officials Monday. The Bureau of Economic Development does not keep statistics on tax collections, and calls to the Internal Revenue Bureau were not returned.
Westman said it appears the law was directed at wholesalers bringing large quantities of 'for export only' tobacco back into the country and inadvertently caught tourists in a too-wide net. It is being enforced at points of entry, where disembarking passengers are told to put their cigarettes into bins as they go through Customs, he said. Not even an open pack gets by.
The penalty for ignoring the law is a fine equal to five times the value of the tobacco product or $1,000, whichever is greater.
"I doubt seriously that anyone has been penalized" with a fine, Westman said, but their cigarettes are being confiscated.

The names of four St. John residents have been sent by Gov. Charles W. Turnbull to the 23rd Legislature for approval to serve two-year terms on the St. John Coastal Zone Management Commission.
Two current commission members, St. John administrator Julien Harley and Myrah Keating-Smith Clinic manager Marquise Calhoun James, have been named to continue on the panel for another term. The governor named attorney Brion Morrisette to succeed Alline W. Thurlow, and Madaline H. Sewer to succeed Paul Thomas.

Territorial Court Judge Alphonso Andrews last week granted Gov. Charles Turnbull’s request for 60 more days to devise a park plan for government land on Great Pond Bay.
After blocking the exchange of public property at Camp Arawak between the V.I. government and Beal Aerospace on Dec. 15, Andrews gave the administration 60 days to pick a department to come up with a "flexible, comprehensive master plan for the use of the property and structures as a park facility."
Turnbull chose the Department of Housing, Parks and Recreation to draft the plan. Commissioner Ira Hobson selected, among others, Raymond "Usie" Richards and Valmy Thomas to sit on the task force.
Late last week, Hobson said the task force had submitted – within the court-ordered deadline — its recommendations to him and he subsequently turned the plan over to Turnbull.
"I wanted to make sure we didn’t let the time line pass," Hobson said. "It’s for him (Turnbull) to reject, accept or alter the plan."
Since the plan was turned in, however, the administration requested an extension from the court. Andrews granted a 60-day extension on Feb. 22, according to Andrews’ law clerk. Neither Hobson nor Turnbull assistant James O’Bryan Jr. could confirm whether Turnbull has seen the plan. The governor left the territory last week to attend the Southern Governors' Conference in Washington, D.C.
"I don’t really want to tell anybody what the plan is before it goes to the governor," Hobson said.
In his order, Andrews stipulated that the plan must include a means of funding and that money collected for the plan must be deposited in a separate account independent from the V.I. government’s general fund.
Hobson conceded that money is the biggest obstacle a future park faces.
"We don’t have money to do this," he said. "However, that doesn’t preclude us from planning it. And that’s what the task force did, they gave us a layout.
"Basically the plan is a good plan. It’s simply a matter of once we have the money it’s doable."
The 14.5 acres, commonly called Camp Arawak, was donated to the people of the Virgin Islands by the late Frank Wiesner in 1974. The deed stipulated that the property, which contains the ruins of a Danish colonial-era great house and other cultural and archeological artifacts, was to be developed into a park.
Hurricane Hugo in 1989 and the government’s cash shortfalls, however, have left the great house in disrepair and the property undeveloped.

A bomb scare at noon Friday called into Tropicana Perfume Shoppe on Main Street caused them to close the doors, according to an employee who did not wish to be identified.
According to an employee of Little Switzerland, located in the A.H. Riise building, that store was ordered to close its doors by police, but "just for a short time," the employee said. She added that Main Street was also closed to traffic during that time.
A spate of bomb scares has plagued the territory this year, starting with two at Cyril E. King Airport, then one in which the entire Crown Bay area was evacuated.
Efforts to contact police as of press time were not successful.

If plans work out, the Virgin Islands will get to hear the sound track album and watch the video of "Speaking in Strings," the documentary feature film produced by St. Thomian Lilibet Foster that's up for an Academy Award, before anybody else.
The documentary about a flamboyant violinist was shown on St. Thomas on Feb. 11 as part of the premiere Virgin Islands International Film and Video Festival at the Reichhold Center for the Arts.
To capitalize on the Oscar nomination, a first-ever distinction for a Virgin Islander, festival coordinator Karrl Foster began looking into ways to promote the St. Thomian's work locally. He has arranged for a public showing of the film at the Westin Resort in mid-March and is also seeking to have it shown on St. Croix and brought back to St. Thomas.
And he's working on arrangements to make the Virgin Islands the first place in the United States where the sound track CD and the video version of "Strings" will go on sale.
Although classical musicians, like classical music, often do not appeal to a mass American audience, "There a market for what Foster has done," Karrl, who is unrelated to Lilibet, said. He termed the work "the most passionate documentary I have ever seen."
Violinist Najda Salerno-Sonnenberg is the subject of "Speaking in Strings," produced by Lilibet Foster and directed by Paola di Florio, who grew up with the violinist, early last year. "Nadja is an unusual character, Lilibet says. "She's a classical violinist in a very unusual way." Sonnenberg is controversial because of the dramatic style she employs in performance, a demeanor Lilibet Foster says is not always well received by a conservative classical music culture. The film depicts a year in the musician's life in which a number of significant events take place.
Lilibet Foster, who is co-owner of an independent film company in New York, returned to St. Thomas to present the film and another documentary, "Soul in the Hole," at the festival. She knew then that "Speaking in Strings" had made the so-called "short list" of potential Oscar nominees. Four days later, on Feb. 15, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced the nominees — and she had made the cut.
Foster, the daughter of John and Claire Foster of St. Thomas, says she got the news that day as she was on the telephone making an inquiry about a teaching job at a college in New York. It was "the biggest surprise ever," she recalls.