73.7 F
Charlotte Amalie
Thursday, March 28, 2024
HomeNewsArchivesBOVONI HOMEOWNERS REQUESTING FEDERAL HELP

BOVONI HOMEOWNERS REQUESTING FEDERAL HELP

Feb, 17, 2004 — It’s been six years since a federal agency declared the Bovoni landfill a public health hazard, and resident homeowners now are requesting to be tested for toxic chemicals they believe are affecting their health.
The Bovoni Homeowners Association has formally requested a health assessment by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, the same agency that conducted an investigation into the Bovoni dump in 1997.
The association has also asked Delegate Donna M. Christensen tour the area on Thursday to see how the environment has deteriorated since 1998, the association's secretary, Rosita Howard, said.
"We’re requesting a more extensive testing than just the one- or two-day sampling tests they did seven years ago," Howard said. "A lot of the homeowners didn’t know about the testing back then, because the tests were mainly for the workers at the dump and the residents of the Bovoni housing community. None of the homeowners was tested. Also, the landfill is twice as large as it was seven years ago. I don’t think the federal government has a true picture of how the environment there affects people who’ve lived here the longest – the homeowners."
Numerous Bovoni residents have reported health problems they believe result from exposure to the landfill. Howard said she has a cousin whose sinuses were so inflamed and swollen she was rushed by air ambulance to a hospital in Puerto Rico. Another resident, Christina Pickering, said her grandson had sinus surgery because of breathing problems. Many residents say more children in the area are growing up with asthma and other lung-related problems.
According to Howard, "Most everyone here has had some kind of throat problem, experiencing heavy labor with their lungs at night. My son has a skin condition that the doctors don’t know the cause for, and it doesn’t go away."
One former resident of Bovoni, Patricia Penn, said she believes the landfill has to be the cause of residents' sinus and breathing problems. "When I lived there, it was the only period in my life when I had sinus problems — sneezing and postnasal drip," she said. "When I moved to Contant, my sinuses cleared up soon afterwards, and I haven’t sneezed in a month. I think the dust that blows into the homes needs to be tested, because I know it’s affecting the homeowners."
Bovoni Homeowners Association President Terecita Rivera is a longtime resident who was in the area before the V.I. government put the landfill there "temporarily" some 30 years ago. She said her allergies and breathing have gotten worse over the years, and she’s seen an increase in the number of different cancers among residents. Because of the concern that dust and toxic chemicals can easily enter into household cisterns, she said, "a lot of us are buying water now, and that is costly. The winds blow in the dirt from the landfill, and it’s not just household dust. Nobody has tested that," she said.
According to the 1997 study that reviewed on-site air monitoring at the landfill, the Bovoni dump "constituted a public health hazard." The report continues: "Numerous physical hazards, such as fast-moving trucks, unstable earth, and potential fires and explosions exist, as well as potentially harmful fumes emitted through open fissures and vents in the landfill surface." The primary threat to the health of nearby residents, the report stated, "are the respiratory irritants (both chemicals and smoke) generated by the subterranean fire."
At the time of the study in 1997, air monitoring at the landfill found a high level of phosgene and mercury vapor. High levels of phosgene cause respiratory illness and can lead to severe edema. Mercury vapor is known to be extremely irritating to the lungs, and high concentrations may lead to pneumonitis, bronchitis, and bronchiolitis. Chronic intoxication from prolonged exposure to mercury vapor can lead to loss of concentration, depression, headaches, fatigue, weakness, memory loss, drowsiness, insomnia and muscular tremors.
The study recommended the V.I. government, in conjunction with the Environmental Protection Agency, take the following steps:
– Extinguish the fires.
– Conduct air sampling off-site.
– Restrict access to the landfill.
– Install diversion valves or roof washers in nearby homes to prevent chemicals from entering cisterns.
– Regularly flush out sediment and sludge in cisterns.
– Provide health education to the community.
– Conduct sediment sampling in the protected Mangrove Lagoon.
Neither the V.I. government nor the EPA has taken any of these steps, except for restricting who goes into the landfill and controlling the fires by ensuring garbage is covered. And there are conflicting reports on whether the underground fires have been completely extinguished. The residents have taken the initiative and stepped up maintenance on their household cisterns, but they say they have received no help or assistance from any government agency.
Jim Casey, EPA’s local representative, said the local government has taken steps to comply with federal mandates in the last few years, and the result has been a decrease in fires and more controlled management of the landfill. As far as the nearby residents, Casey said both the EPA and the Agency for Toxic Substances "are working together with the Bovoni community on a tangible plan of environmental awareness and training."
Yet members of the Bovoni Homeowners Association say they have not been contacted about such a plan and, in fact, have been trying for more than a year to set up an educational program with EPA to no avail.
"We’ve been trying to have Jim Casey come out here and talk to us, but haven’t had any success," Rivera said. She said that’s why the association contacted the Agency for Toxic Substances last fall and talked with officials in a conference call in October 2003. That call included Casey and a representative of the local Health Department. At the end of the call, both the EPA and the Health Department agreed to distribute a health survey to Bovoni homeowners and to contact local doctors and clinics in St. Thomas. None of that has been done.
Rivera said the association asked for help from the federal government after repeated requests for assistance went ignored by the local government.
"That dump has been here for more than 25 years, and since the beginning, when they told us it would be ‘temporary’ until they could find a permanent location, we’ve been getting promises and promises," she said. "We were promised the tires would be shredded over a year ago when the V.I. government told us they would be getting a contract – they keep delaying that. The same [story] with the vehicles, with that program on hold and more cars pile up closer to the main road. Nothing has been constructed, not even the fence they promised years ago. Only in the last year or so have the batteries been removed. So it’s been almost 30 years, and only that has been done – nothing else. The landfill only gets worse."

Back Talk

Share your reaction to this news with other Source readers. Please include headline, your name, and the city and state/country or island where you reside.

Publisher's note : Like the St. Thomas Source now? Find out how you can love us twice as much — and show your support for the islands' free and independent news voice… click here.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email
Keeping our community informed is our top priority.
If you have a news tip to share, please call or text us at 340-228-8784.

Support local + independent journalism in the U.S. Virgin Islands

Unlike many news organizations, we haven't put up a paywall – we want to keep our journalism as accessible as we can. Our independent journalism costs time, money and hard work to keep you informed, but we do it because we believe that it matters. We know that informed communities are empowered ones. If you appreciate our reporting and want to help make our future more secure, please consider donating.