Smart growth is a priority for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA Region 2 Administrator Judith Enck said Tuesday as she toured the Coral Bay area with the Coral Bay Community Council and EPA staff members.
The Community Council received a $300,000 EPA grant in 2008 to work on storm-water issues in Coral Bay.
"There’s been very rapid development and no oversight from the government," Community Council President Sharon Coldren told Enck as they took in the view from the Bordeaux overlook.
Coldren estimated that the Coral Bay area has about 2,000 residents and 1,000 homes.
When asked about what she saw as the challenges facing the territory, Enck said that while each island had different issues, storm water was a big one for all of them.
"And the proper disposal of solid waste," she said.
She suggested that solid-waste issues on St. Croix would get more attention than those on St. Thomas due to the Federal Aviation Administration’s mandate that the Anguilla landfill be closed. Birds feasting on the garbage pose a threat to airplanes landing at the nearby Henry E. Rohlsen Airport.
As for the Bovoni landfill on St. Thomas, Enck said its growing mountain of garbage was Exhibit A of why the territory needs a recycling program.
"The single most effective thing is to reuse and recycle," she said, referring to ways to cut down on garbage going to the landfill.
The tour stopped at the Mill Vista neighborhood, where the residents used surplus telephone poles to make water bars on its unpaved road.
Joe Mina, a storm-water consultant for the council, said the water bars divert the water from the road. This reduced the severity of the gullies that develop when it rains.
On Gerda Marsh Road, the council plans to use grant money to remove a wall placed several years ago in an attempt to reduce problems caused by a large flow of water that runs downhill in the area.
"The wall made sure every bit of sediment-laden water made it to the bay," Coldren said.
The tour concluded at the Calabash Boom affordable housing project, which received the territory’s inaugural storm-water permit.
"DPNR is trying to learn from here," Coldren said, referring to the Planning and Natural Resources Department.
While many efforts were made to solve the problem of silt-laden storm water running downhill into nearby Johnson’s Bay, the council’s research coordinator, Barry Devine, said the storm water is the dirtiest of any place in the Coral Bay area.
Enck met Monday on St. Thomas with government and environmental organization officials.
