The Virgin Islands government edged closer Friday to bringing a new wastewater treatment plant on-line. The new Mangrove Lagoon/Turpentine Run Treatment Plant is slated to replace smaller, less-efficient plants now servicing the Estate Tutu, Donoe, Bovoni and Nadir areas.
The Legislature’s Committee on Planning and Environmental Protection approved a major coastal zone permit to build and install the federally required treatment plant.
The plant will be constructed near the mangrove lagoon on Long Point and will treat more than 700,000 gallons of wastewater a day, V.I. government officials testified Friday.
Grants provided by the Environmental Protection Agency, which has mandated the treatment plant, are earmarked to fund the construction, pegged at around $28 million. Money also will come from bond proceeds that were floated in years past.
With the CZM permit now approved, the next step is for the government
to advertise for bids on the construction. The project is expected to take two years to complete.
Supporting the approval of the permit were, Sens. Adlah "Foncie" Donastorg, Norman Jn-Baptiste, Donald "Ducks" Cole and George Goodwin.
In the case of major coastal zone permits, the committee grants the final approval on behalf of the Legislature.
Gov. Charles Turnbull signed off on the permit when he forwarded it to the Senate.
The government gained support for the project from the League of Women Voters. LWV member Helen Gjessing testified that the "league is enthusiastically in favor of the plan." She urged speedy consideration of the permit, saying that every delay causes extensive damage to the mangrove lagoon.
Construction of the plant will require laying new pipelines along the
Turpentine Run Road.