Dear Source,
Imagine a federal Environmental Protection Agency officer and a V.I. Public Works Department officer standing on any St. Croix shore. As they are standing there, a pickup truck comes out of the bush and backs up to the water, and an individual dumps an open 55-gallon drum of sewage and human waste into the ocean.
How do you think the two officers would interpret that act? As an infraction or a criminal offense?
Imagine, if you will, each man, woman and child on St. Croix possessing twenty 55-gallon open drums of sewage and human waste and dumping them into the ocean.
How do you think the two officers would interpret this act? As an infraction or a criminal offense?
What if 2,500 24,000-gallon swimming pools of sewage and human waste were dumped into the ocean in front of these officers? How do you think the two would interpret that act? As an infraction or a criminal offense?
My point is this: Twenty 55-gallon drums of sewage and human waste for every man, woman and child on St. Croix add up to about 60 million gallons. And 2,500 24,000-gallon swimming pools filled with sewage and human waste also are the equivalent of 60 million gallons.
That amount of sewage and human waste has drained into the ocean on the south side of St. Croix in the last two years because our government has not addressed the sewage system problem, and the government's inaction has placed the public health at risk. How do you think the EPA and DPNR should interpret that act? As an infraction or a criminal offense?
This is just food for thought. Let's see what happens.
Hope Gibson
St. Croix
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