March 4, 2002 – The Coastal Zone Management Commission's legal counsel has recommended additional fines against the builders of a dock at Lovango Cay, where environmental inspectors found a swath of damaged coral.
In a memorandum to Planning and Natural Resources Commissioner Dean Plaskett dated Feb. 27, CZM's legal counsel, Julita de Leon, recommended issuance of an additional notice of violation, along with punitive damages. She stated in the memo that the builders, Joseph John Markus Trust, and their attorney, Tom Bolt, ignored a cease-and-desist order filed Feb. 21 to stop construction of the dock and that they knowingly went ahead with the work for several days.
DPNR regulators shut down work on the dock last week.
Bolt has said the Markus Trust was not properly served with the cease-and-desist order.
Plaskett levied a $2.9 million fine against the Markus Trust and the St. John barge company Boyson Inc. last month in connection with damage to an area of coral along the south shore of Lovango Cay where the Markus Trust has permits to rebuild a hurricane-damaged house and to construct an 80-foot concrete dock.
PNR inspectors found broken coral and parts of a reef buried under sand after a Boyson barge unloaded construction material at the site in January, according to a PNR report.
On Monday, government attorneys met with representatives of the Markus Trust and Boyson Inc. to discuss issues surrounding the $2.9 million fine. The meeting, which was closed to the public, went all day and will resume Friday, Bolt said late Monday.
The parties did not discuss the possibility of any additional fines but exchanged information that should help in working out a resolution, Bolt said. "It was a good meeting," he said. "We're working on a resolution that is acceptable to both sides."
PNR officials did not respond to requests for information about Monday's meeting.
Also discussed in Monday's meeting was a remediation plan for the damaged coral. Bio-Impact Inc., a St. Croix company hired by the Markus Trust as an environmental monitor, has been repairing broken corals by using an epoxy to bind them to the seafloor. Amy Dempsey of Bio-Impact said she needed five more days to complete the work, Bolt said Monday.
The remediation plan could be extended into a long-term plan to better protect the coral reefs at Lovango Cay, a popular destination for daysail excursions and snorkelers, Bolt said last week. Such a plan could include the placing of moorings in the area, he said.
