June 14, 2002 – As Environmental Protection Agency officials presented an administrative order to the V.I. government for handling waste oil, they said they were acting to head off an environmental catastrophe.
The order directs the departments of Public Works and Planning and Natural Resources to work together to re-establish waste-oil collection centers and set up transportation systems to send the oil to reclamation stations on a timely basis.
A public presentation of the plan was held Wednesday night on St. Croix and Thursday evening on St. Thomas to solicit comment from residents. At that hearing EPA compliance officer Leonard Grossman said the order is not an indictment of failures by the local government.
"This order is not about violation, it is not about penalty. It is about moving forward and establishing a comprehensive system in the Virgin Islands," he said, adding that the absence of such a system will allow conditions to arise that will result in harm to the environment.
Federal authorities said they came to that conclusion after reviewing the handling of waste oil that currently exists. The price of noncompliance, they said, was far greater than the one- to two-hundred-dollar fine proposed for violations. St. Thomas EPA Coordinator Jim Casey told those at the meeting the cost of mismanagement goes way beyond cleanup. "You cannot determine cost of health, concerns for used oil and other hazardous material ending up in well water and other potential threats," he said.
It's the kind of threat that lingers for however long it takes to clean up the pollution, and multiplies with every instance of oil that's improperly disposed of.
In March and April of this year the commissioners of Public Works and DPNR signed the compliance agreement, which will not become official until it is formally signed by an EPA administrator. The plan contains four provisions and a schedule for meeting them:
– The V.I. government must report to the EPA about how it will fund the comprehensive used oil management system.
– The government must hire drivers for two used oil tanker trucks that were purchased in 1998. The purpose of the trucks is to pick up used oil from the collections centers and bring it to Hovensa on St. Croix or WAPA on St. Thomas. The government is responsible for making sure the trucks are properly licensed and the drivers are properly trained in the handling of hazardous material and spill management..
– The government must reopen the seven used-oil collection centers that were once in operation; currently there are three open, with one more temporarily closed.
– The government must provide public outreach, telling the public how to use the collection centers and what is appropriate to bring to the collection centers, and telling commercial-oil generators what they need to know and what they must do at their facilities to comply with the management system operated by the territory.
According to Public Works waste oil program coordinator Geraldine Smith, several steps have already been taken toward compliance. Drivers have been hired and given hazardous material training. Eleven additional workers were also trained in the handling of hazardous materials. Waste-oil igloos used as collection centers were inspected and repaired where needed, "and they have been cleaned," she said.
Smith said her department has also obtained hydrocarbon "sniffers" — battery-operated devices to help prevent contaminated oil going into tanker trucks or igloos. The government is also amassing a spill fund.
Both Grossman and Casey said it was good to see the efforts that have been made in advance of the compliance order taking effect. But there were some among the 20 citizens attending the St. Thomas meeting who questioned the government's ability to stick to their promises and timetables.
Jorge J. Estemac said despite EPA assurances he felt the order was being imposed because of regulatory lapses and oversights. After the meeting Grossman admitted his agency would soon have to revisit its mandates to the government to clean up waste oil contamination at the Bovoni Landfill.
Helen Gjessing, an environmental advocate with the League of Women Voters, questioned the potential of the public outreach component to deliver its message to the primary culprits of waste oil pollution — do-it-yourself mechanics.
"Let's take the average person here, they don't use well water. Why should they be concerned about water in any aquifer? Also, they don't understand the specifics of why it might harm birds, wildlife, plants and so on," Gjessing said.
Another potential stumbling block hangs on a pending agreement with Hovensa over their role as a waste oil recycler. "Hovensa is still working on their agreement for accepting used oil. In this order they are being encouraged to take on everybody's oil and that is a liability issue for Hovensa," said Dr. Clanicia Pelle, DPNR's supervisor for used oil and solid household and hazardous waste.
Under the EPA plan Hovensa and WAPA will accept the used oil and convert it to energy through incineration. Pelle said the agreement for WAPA's participation is a done deal.
But Smith urged those concerned to "become very enthusiastic" that the plan will work. Grossman said he was enthusiastic about the input the plan had already received through its two public airings. A third presentation is being scheduled for June 18 on St. John.
Attendance was not as large as it could be, he said, "but certainly the discussion was very lively. It had a lot of good questions, a lot of good comments. We want the public involved," he said.
Those who would still like a chance to share their thoughts on the waste-oil plan have until July 15 to send their written comments to Leonard Grossman at Environmental Protection Agency, 290 Broadway, New York New York 10007.
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