June 25, 2002 – Concerned for the public's health, the St. Croix Environmental Association has issued an advisory about raw sewage running in the island's streets. "While there is an environmental danger, the bigger threat is to health," SEA executive director Bill Turner said.
And while water contaminated with sewage usually smells foul, Turner urged residents not to walk in any running water, to be on the safe side. He said SEA has received reports in the last several weeks that raw sewage was running near the LBJ and Campo Rico pump stations, areas along the South Shore, and near the King Christian Hotel in Christiansted. The reports are the latest in an ongoing problem that dates back many years.
Efforts to reach Public Works officials on Tuesday were unsuccessful.
Mark Sperber at Mile Mark Watersports, located on King's Wharf, said that last week the stench was overwhelming there, but that the problem had been solved. However, he said he would like to see a permanent solution to St. Croix's sewage woes so customers at his watersports store and the adjacent Avocado Pitt restaurant don't have to suffer.
"Thank God we have air conditioning and can close our front doors," Sperber said.
Turner warned that sewage can carry diseases such as typhoid, cholera, hepatitis A, cryptosporidum and giardia. "The diseases spread by raw sewage are serious," he said. While none of those illnesses have been reported, he said, St. Croix residents may have suffered mild cases that didn't send them to the doctor.
Environmental damage comes, Turner said, when nitrogen and phosphorus from sewage lead to an overgrowth of algae and plant life. When the plants die, they release bacteria that deplete the oxygen in the water, and this, in turn, leads to fish kills, he said.
SEA is looking into legal ways to force the V.I. government to bring its sewage facilities up to standards, Turner said. Sperber, however, said the best thing for organizations such as SEA to do would be to look for funding sources that can help the Public Works Department repair and replace its equipment.
"Everybody's quick to push the blame, but nobody wants to find a solution," Sperber said.
Turner urged residents who see what might be sewage-contaminated water to call the Public Works Department at 773-1290 or the Environmental Enforcement Division of the Planning and Natural Resources Department at 773-1082.
Anyone uncomfortable making a report to those agencies should call SEA at 773-1989 so its staff can pass the information on to public authorities.
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