March 8, 2002 – Senators heard encouraging words Friday about the status of the new Mangrove Lagoon/Turpentine Run sewage treatment plant on St. Thomas's East End and renovations to the Airport Lagoon plant at the other end of the island.
Sonia Nelthropp, Public Works Department special assistant to Commissioner Wayne Callwood, told the Planning and Environmental Protection Committee that the Mangrove Lagoon plant is "on the verge" of being fully operational.
Aaron Hutchins, a water pollution supervisor in the Planning and Natural Resources Department, said the final permit for the Mangrove Lagoon plant, estimated to cost of $30 million, was issued Feb. 1. He, too, said the plant will be operational "very soon."
The Mangrove Lagoon/Turpentine Run Treatment Plant, as it is formally known, is slated to replace smaller, less-efficient plants now servicing Estates Tutu, Donoe, Bovoni and Nadir. Dredging for the long-awaited plant, first proposed in 1984, began early last year. The plant has been the subject of many hearings and if environmental studies on many aspects, including the ocean outfall.
Sen. Donald "Ducks" Cole, who chairs the committee, and Sen. Carlton Dowe showed a video of the plant they took earlier in the week. Cole described the facility as "beautiful, state of the art. An oasis in the desert."
All agreed there is a need for a change in how the community's sewage is collected now. Cole noted that when he visits youngsters at the Al McBean baseball complex in Anna's Retreat, "the stench is awful." And, he added, "it's awfully close to E. Benjamin Oliver Elementary School. We cannot let our residents continue to live in conditions such as these."
Dowe agreed, saying, "We have to do better. We have passed money to get these plants up and operational."
Nelthropp graphically demonstrated the cause of the problem. Reaching into a cardboard box, she brought out an ancient piece of cast-iron pipe, which she broke then in her hand, causing some senators to gasp. "A picture is worth a thousand words," she said. "These are 40-year-old pieces of pipe. They should have been replaced 20 years ago."
An important part of the Mangrove Lagoon/Turpentine Run project is the laying of new sewage collection pipes in Old and New Tutu and along Turpentine Run road, Nelthropp said. "It's about a five-year project," she said. "We are working on it seven days a week."
She said told the senators there are 14 workers to deal with 60 miles of pipe, and they are being paid about $25,000 a year. Responding to questions, she added that "there are NOPA's on the governor's desk now to increase the staff." NOPA's are notices of personnel action, paperwork that must be processed in order for new government employees to be hired and paid.
Complicating the work, Nelthropp said, some manholes and piping are not easily accessible because people, usually unintentionally, have built over them. Sometimes, she said, a backhoe is needed to remove whatever is covering the openings and pipes.
She also said Public Works would be giving residents a grace period of about nine months to report illegal hookups. "They may not know they are illegal," she said.
Work on the Airport Lagoon plant sludge removal project is "moving along," Nelthropp said. It is three-phase project, and Phase 1 has been completed.
Last September, officials said the release of untreated sewage from the plant because of damage caused by heavy rains to a partition at the facility posed a potential threat to public health and the environment. Cole wrote to Callwood then requesting progress reports on the repair work, most of which has now been completed.
Nelthropp said the grounds have been cleared of brush and debris, the control building has been completely refurbished, and the electrical, mechanical and standby equipment is now in operable condition. She said workers have had problems getting to the plant because of tighter airport security, but a new route to the facility is in the works.
A temporary diversion pipeline is almost half finished, Nelthropp said, and several approaches to repairing the outfall manhole are being considered. Rehabilitation of the lagoon equipment will get under way after the sludge is removed, she said.
And then there are the socks. Odor-control socks, Nelthropp called them, and they have nothing to do with smelly feet. She said the offensive odor from the sewage treatment plant that often permeates the air in the vicinity of Cyril E. King Airport won't be a problem any more, because "we have odor-control socks, similar to wind socks." She didn't explain how they work but said "the posts have been set, and the socks are on site."
With a smile, she added, "They smell good — it's a lovely pine odor."