The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is on the verge of a potentially expensive decision that would deny the Department of Public Works’ waiver application that would excuse it from having to treat sewage at a secondary level.
On Tuesday, Jeanne Fox, EPA’s Region 2 administrator, announced the agency’s tentative decision to deny the territory’s application for a waiver of treatment requirements of the U.S. Clean Water Act. In a public notice, Fox said the application denial would be for Public Works’ St. Croix Wastewater Treatment Plant and the Airport Lagoon Wastewater Treatment Plant.
"What it indicates is the EPA is leaning toward this denial," said Nina Habib-Spencer, an EPA spokeswoman.
She added that a final decision will be made once the public comment period on the issue ends on Nov. 29 and EPA officials consider what concerned citizens and groups have to say.
"We do take every comment into consideration," Habib-Spencer said.
Public Works’ current inability to manage discharges from its wastewater treatment plants at the primary level, which means removing solids from liquid before discharging into the ocean, doesn’t bode well because secondary treatment entails higher – and more expensive – standards.
Secondary treatment uses chemical and biological methods to clean sewage before it is discharged outside a treatment plant.
The waiver has been pending for some 15 years in the hope that Public Works would meet primary discharge standards. That, however, hasn’t occurred.
The EPA’s decision was originally due in October but was extended to take more public input. If it does indeed deny the waiver, Public Works would have three years to develop a compliance plan detailing how it would attain secondary treatment. Estimates to retrofit the territory’s treatment plants have been pegged at approximately $20 million.
Existing plants would have to be brought up to current standards, like the recently completed $4 million Cruz Bay Wastewater Treatment Plant on St. John.
Because Public Works has failed to manage the wastewater system at the primary level, at least one V.I. senator, Adlah "Foncie" Donastorg questioned the wisdom of mandating even higher standards, especially in light of the government’s economic problems.
Still, Donastorg's spokeswoman, Nicole Bollentini, said he fully supports more stringent compliance standards, as long as the EPA assists in training and funding the new mandates.