Peeewwww... something smells in St Croix

Yeah, i saw that story in the St. Croix Avis. WaPA had a sewage line break. It seems to only have affected Condo row. We just moved from there last week. I had heard before that area was polluted, but I guess It is true now if it wasn't before.

Well, now I guess there is some truth to JETPILOT's claim of the VI being a Sh*thole! LOL. He just labeled the wrong island! ROFLOL! Sorry, I couldn't help myself.

Seriously... I guess there is a 10% chance it could happen again anytime, see below:

"Officials didn't say why the pipe broke, but they have estimated that nearly 10 percent of the sewage pipes in St. Croix were likely to break and needed to be replaced.

The pipe that broke usually transports 1.2 million gallons of wastewater a day.

Since 1996, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has fined the territory's government more than $2.7 million for not being in compliance with the Federal Clean Water Act because it failed to meet repair deadlines, according to the U.S. Justice Department.

The U.S. Virgin Islands has been in federal court since 1984, when U.S. officials first cited the territory for having inadequate treatment plants."

Copyright 2006 The Associated

Gee, do you think they could have fixed the pipes for less than $2.7 million and have avoided this mess? Do you think this is the kind of thing that will (at least in their minds) completely justify many critics, such as JETPILOT? What is everyone's feedback?

Sat.'s paper said the beach area at condo row is not safe at this time. Wonder how long it takes that much waste to wash away...and it makes you think twice about swimming in someone else's toilet...ick.

Someone posted a while back as to a possible solution, or maybe it was a letter to the Avis editor - WHY are all of these able-bodied people that are in Orange Grove for anything less than a felony just sitting on their thumbs and serving time? How about work release? There is a HUGE source of manpower for picking up trash, cutting back brush, and yes - digging and setting new sewage pipes BEFORE they break. Is there a reason this manpower is not utilized? I am asking a question here, not blasting...but I feel sure there are a few folks there that would rather pick up trash than be locked in a cell 24/7.

The government can't pay their WAPA bill, then they "find" an enormous surplus of funds? How do you "find" millions of dollars? I'm a bit confused as well by the EPA fines - the government would rather be fined by the EPA than fix the source of the problem? This line break will cost a gazillion dollars to fix, and you'd better believe we'll see it reflected in our WAPA bills.

I talked to my folks in Mississippi yesterday - STX has been in their paper four times in the past several weeks - the sewage break, the bleaching of the coral reefs, and the generator or whatever it was at Hovensa going down and jacking up fuel prices 20 cents overnight. Oh, and the ugly incident with the cruise ship. Well, Hovensa had an oopsy, but these other occurences? These aren't GOOD ways to make the news, and STX is so incredibly beautiful that I hate the negativity that is brought out.

STX is a beautiful little island, but the pride seems to be in short supply in some areas. My husband watched someone dump a refrigerator into the middle of the highway one day! The highway also seems to be a popular dumping ground for bags of trash.

My question is an innocent one so please don't flame me - is what we are seeing "growing pains" from a new influx of people or a passive resistance to change? A combination? Or "it is what it is?" On the mainland, civic groups or individuals will take a stretch of road and keep it free of debris...I have seen folks on this board initiate beach clean ups, but is there a road/beach clean up by civic groups/individuals here? I would certainly sign up with one if I knew of such, but maybe I haven't been paying attention.

Yes, I am a newbie. No, I don't understand. No, I'm NOT trying to compare to stateside...(well, maybe that's not a totally true statement...but it's all I have as a point of reference). I want to be a positive member of this community and help effect positive change, but I'm not really sure where to start since I don't understand the system that is in place.

Native Son, DL and others - please help. I'll work on the sea turtles later, but right now I need to take baby steps. Perhaps someone can direct me to a civic org that is working on some of the smaller issues and I'll happily sign up and do my part. Sorry, can't fix the sewage line - I can't even fix the pipe that broke in the apartment and flooded it yesterday - but point me in the right direction and I'm there!

Dare I suggest a small territory tax? Or would that just be another source of lost revenue? Asking, asking, asking....again, don't want to be flamed....innocent questions deserve thoughtful, informative answers - PLEASE! 🙂

...sure something smells in St. Croix...and in DC, and in New York, and in Toronto, and in LA, Shanghai, Moscow, etc...

It is the smell of humans polluting the planet. St. Croix is not the only place where people take a sh*t...just let the garbage men in any major city go on strike for a day, and watch what happens.

Why do people assume that because it is the Virgin Islands we are supposed to be bereft of problems?

This is a small island. It was only supposed to support so many people. People called it "paradise" and started coming here in large numbers. They wanted to have all of the conveniences of the place they left, in addition to the warm weather and beaches. Infrastructure was not able to keep up with the influx of new bodies. Just look at the Anguilla landfill. No garbage produced on St. Croix has ever left the island...it is all still here. Nobody said to Plaza, Kmart, Woolworth's, Footlocker, McDonalds, Wendy's, Kentucky Fried Chicken, ad nauseum "hey, please package your goods in paper containers, not plastic." Nobody is saying to Hondo, Ford, Toyota, Chevrolet, etc "look, this is a small island, do not market so many cars here." Everybody wants everything, and damn the environment. Where do you suppose all of the used tires and junked vehicles will go?

It's not just the sewage that's a problem. There is a whole ecological disaster in the wings, waiting to happen here, if we as residents don't wake up and realize that we need to take care of this planet, starting with this small island. The problem is, no one wants to give up their creature comforts. Mass transportation won't work becsue people think of their cars as status symbols, not transportation. The politicians will not tackle hard issues like fixing the sewage system because they are more concerned with getting re-elected and feeling important in their SUV's than in solving problems. The general populace is happy and content driving their big SUV's and flinging McDonalds and KFC styrofoam containers out of the windows.

You will never get anything fixed or solved as long as people are as happy and content as they are here in the Virgin Islands. For most people, having a job, a big SUV, and enough money to go to Kmart is enough...they could care less about the environment and they could care even less about mobilizing and getting the highly paid politicians to do something other than argue about where the capital of the VI should be.

"There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root."
Henry David Thoreau.

My husband and I were talking about this same problem yesterday. he works for an inspection company that inspects Hovensa's machinery and tanks. He said that Hovensa has to determine which areas need inspection the most and push those ahead and leave the rest until they have the manpower to inspect the remaining areas. Well...Hovensa wanted to cut costs, so people my like my husband got pay cuts and housing taken away, and the other inspectors were sent home. Now, they have half the workforce inspecting that they used to have. I've also heard there is a perfectly good coal burning plant that could force WAPA to compete on thier electric prices, but the gov't won't let them use it.(Probably because the gov't officials get thier power supplied for free by WAPA).

I think ALOT of the problem on this island is political, and a lack of initiative. Many locals don't take pride in thier island. I am a newbie, but I still have a LOT of pride in this island. This is my home!! I couldn't imagine littering and destroying the island.

I was also thinking about why they don't have "Community service" here and work programs for prisoners. That would be alot of free labor. There are so many solutions, but so much red tape and political bull$!t.

I was told when I lived on Condo row not to swim in the water or eat the fish there. Now I know why.

I really don't think it's just tourists that trash this island. I've seen the actual cruzans doing it too. I think it's sad that they have to have a special day when they paint trash cans and auction them off just to motivate people to throw thier trash in them. It's very frustrating, I wish there were something I could do. Sorry to rant and rave. 🙂

This is a good thread so far with positive thinking coming out of it, so can I repeat something I've said before, particularly directed to the newbies? A small but important step is that you register to vote here and then take the time to carefully examine the potential candidates for office and make your choices based on their platform and, more importantly, their past attendance, efforts and results.

There was a great cartoon published in The Avis in 2003 which depicts a man explaining to two women holding a headline copy of a newspaper reading, "V.I. Voters Elect People For The Wrong Reasons" that, "This may be difficult for you to understand if you're not a Virgin Islander...but we do not elect people based on their qualification or ability!"

It may be hard to believe but, in my opinion, the legislative body today is comprised of a generally better caliber of people than in years past and there are some bright junior sparks in there whose first concern is the wellbeing of the islands and who really do work for their salaries. Conversely, there is still that self-serving redundant faction which keeps popping up and getting elected and re-elected because their big mouths, bigger fish fry events and promises of lucrative crony deals appeal.

Adelbert Bryan and Chucky Hansen were finally defeated and some of us never thought that would happen, so positive changes CAN be made if people act.

Apologies if I've rambled on but please register to vote as your voice certainly can make a big difference.

An ALL IMPORTANT post, STT Res, and thank you again for reminding me that registering to vote and being an informed voter is a civic privilege - and a duty as well. You are so correct - we cannot bitch about the state of the government and other issues if we aren't actively working to help change it. If you can't be a part of the solution, don't be a part of the problem. Rome wasn't built in a day, and the Earth won't change overnight...but positive change CAN be had by the people speaking en masse.

Kudos to you!

So, just for clarification~kfc & the aforementioned fast food places still use plastic/styrofoam?

You ever noticed how islands with poverty and crime tend to have a lot of trash on the side of the road, and the ones that don't have a lot of poverty and crime tend to be clean? I think I see a correlation here. For example, I hear that in the Bahamas, BVI, Aruba and some of the other Dutch islands, there isn't much trash every where, and these islands are known for not having much poverty and crime.

Maybe it's because of the poor education system - less quality education breeds more poverty, crime, and a lack of awareness about the environment. I am quite sure that we are mentally capable of keeping our own island clean, I mean look at the native population in the other islands I named. I just think that our government needs to educate the public more and actually enforce the littering laws.

Autumn asks:

"So, just for clarification~kfc & the aforementioned fast food places still use plastic/styrofoam?"

Yes, they do...and there is a certain segment of the population here that will gleefully dispose of said styrofoam (and whatever else they don't want in their clean cars) along the highways and byways of St. Croix. No pride.

There was also an incident some months ago where a huge amount of used tires was found off the road along Scenic Drive. It seems the tire shops had been dumping these used tires at night, in one of the most pristine areas of the island. No pride.

DL made a good observation:

"You ever noticed how islands with poverty and crime tend to have a lot of trash on the side of the road, and the ones that don't have a lot of poverty and crime tend to be clean? I think I see a correlation here."

There is a certain mentality that breeds crime, poverty, and filth. For every schoolkid cleaning the beaches and roadsides, and adopting areas of the island, there are a thousand adults busily trashing the same areas. NO pride. Shame on them.

Okay,
So we can try to make a difference to have them switch from styrofoam to paper..it's only a small difference..but it will degrade much faster. If each one of us call the number listed below & email as well...we might be able to make a difference. Pass the information along to those in the community--this number 630-623-3000 is the corporate switchboard-but tell them what you want to accomplish & they will direct you to the right department. So, who's with me on this?
Actions speak louder than words ;0)

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Thanks Autumn

No problem...it just seems that so many people complain & I am sure that some are doing something about it~but I never see solutions that everyone can participate in. I hope this will also help motivate some of those ppl who talk so much junk about what a crappy place it is & will encouarge those same individuals to put up or shut up. I am far far away right now~but will try to contribute in some way if I can. I hope to do more once I get there...you know..get my hands dirty ;0)

I checked into registering to vote the moment I got on the island, but there is a 90 day waiting period. I'm almost to my 90 days. I think I have one week left. I do know that I try to pick up trash if I see a trashcan near. I've already had a friend come visit me and ask why there's so much trash laying around. It's embarrasing that I'm new here and have more pride in my home (STX) than some people that were born here.

The McDs and Wendy's on STT use paper wrapping, not styrofoam. I've never checked the KFC.