From the evening of Friday into the early hours of Saturday, special barge service conducted by Love City Car Ferries’ Captain Vic and authorized by the U.S. Coast Guard helped to address the growing backlog of solid waste piling up in St. John’s dumpster bins, the V.I. Waste Management Authority reported Tuesday.
Inter-island trash transport has been one of the services affected since the January seizure of the M/V Mr. B in January, part of a court case against the boat’s owner, Boyson Inc.
Between 8 p.m. July 22 and 1 a.m. July 23, the VIWMA’s St. John contractors, Penn’s Trucking, were able to transport the island’s overflowing trash piles to the Bovoni Landfill on St. Thomas, which remained open to process the waste.
According to the VIWMA, limited barge service continues to cause delays in the transport of waste. For that reason, the authority and its contractors have made servicing roadside bins a priority over collecting trash at the Susannaberg Transfer Station.
The transfer station will continue to accommodate disposal, the VIWMA press release stated, but if the bins at the station are full, residents will be directed to the nearest available bin site. No rear loaders will be accepted until further notice.
In its Tuesday news release, the authority apologized for any inconvenience suffered as it continues to work with its contractors and available barge service to move solid waste under what it referred to as a constraining situation.
