In the meantime, trash that the highly overworked old facility couldn’t handle has piled up on the mountainside behind it, where potentially hazardous dumpsite burning has become commonplace.

While residents on Tortola have been forced to wait patiently for a new system to operate in a territory with no legislation in place designed specifically to regulate air pollution, some in the United States Virgin Islands have become restless.

Photo: DAN O’CONNOR A giant trash mound divides the facility that houses the old incinerator (right) and the new, dormant incinerator.

In the US, the Environmental Protection Agency enforces strict guidelines under the national Clean Air Act, allowing St. John residents to take their complaints to a higher authority.

A recent meeting among concerned environmental groups, EPA representatives and government officials in the USVI subsequently spawned a Nov. 13 meeting here, attended by both sides’ officials, who discussed the plumes of dumpsite smoke that often waft over St. John.  

"These emissions have been a source of complaints from residents of Coral Bay, St. John, and now there are growing concerns about the effect on health, business, the environment and ecology in the territories," USVI Governor John deJongh said in a written statement last week, breaking a longstanding silence about the dilemma.

Government officials here say that the new 100-tonne-per-day incinerator may be functional within three to four months after they decide on a company to install the mechanical, electrical and plumbing equipment needed to run it.

Recent reports from the Solid Waste Department reveal that the incinerator saw 36,500 tonnes of waste last year, up 2,500 tonnes from 2007, and it is faced with a waste stream of some 93 tonnes a day — more than twice its current burning capacity.

Since the new incinerator is not yet functional, much of the waste is burned behind the incinerator in Pockwood Pond.

Coral Bay, St. John resident Sharon Coldren believes this issue is a call for action.

Ms. Coldren is the president of the Coral Bay Community Council, an organisation that has spearheaded efforts to combat the problem members say is bad for the environment and health of residents on Tortola and St. John.

Working through a grant from the EPA, the council works to lobby government and spread awareness about the issue.

In a recent visit with government officials here, the activist presented a slideshow, and spoke to local politicians about what problems the unfiltered burning is causing.

The St. John resident said that the smoke sometimes reaches her community when there is a downwind draft, and it often looms over the nearby national park that encompasses much of the US island.

“It depends very much on the wind direction as to what part of Coral Bay is getting the smoke,” she said. “It’s definitely on the minds of people of Coral Bay, making sure it will stop immediately, and wondering why and how the people of the BVI have put up with it for so long.”

To answer their question: Significant delays, including previous government hang-ups and subsequent tendering issues, have caused the half-decade wait for a solution to the problem.

The government here has heard the cries of the people, and is working toward soon answering them, said Petrona Davies, acting permanent secretary of the Ministry of Health and Social Development.

“[St. John residents] have the same concerns that we have, and we were able to assure them that work was progressing for the USVI and, more so, the people of the BVI,” Ms. Davies said of the recent meeting.

Currently, the ministry is moving forward on another tendering process, after further delays, for the mechanical, electrical and plumbing works needed to fire up the new incinerator, she added.

In a September House of Assembly meeting, Deputy Premier Dancia Penn said tendering attempts since February  “did not yield sufficient interest to ensure that the bids were competitive.

“Once the … contractors have been selected and mobilised, the works are expected to be completed within three to four months.”

And the tendering process “is just about complete,” Ms. Smith said, adding that Cabinet would have final word on the selection before the three-to-four-month installation process begins.

The full story appears in the Dec. 3, 2009 issue.