-Sewage Being Dumped in the V.I. Waters
By C Tavernier
Imagine that you are swimming in our beautiful water in the V.I. over the coral reef and you notice a brown, smelly substance floating in the water and brown, dirty water around the coral reef. Believe it or not, you are swimming in sewage. Right now the V.I. has pumped over 50 million gallons of raw sewage into the water where many people and sea creatures swim. The sewage problem is mainly happening on St.Croix, and if it keeps up, will it be safe for people to swim on the south shore of St.Croix?
The coral reefs are dying at an alarming rate from two coral diseases, and they are black band and white plague which can kill a foot-long colony of coral in a week. These diseases are happening because the chemicals that help break down the waste are very harmful to the coral reefs. (www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7994987)
All over the world right now, coral reefs are dying out and if this keeps up in the V.I., we will not have any coral reefs and that means that we will not have any tourist attractions in the water like swimming, scuba diving, jet skiing, etc. The sewage problem has been happening for more than 20 years. We are living in a modern world; we find ways to make life easy, so why can’t we find a way to save the ocean life that is so beautiful?
According to Aldeth Lewin, “The federal government has filed a motion in District Court to stop the V.I. Waste Management Authority from dumping millions of gallons of sewage into the Caribbean Sea.” The motion, meaning “an application made to a court for an order or ruling,” states, “In view of the clear threat to human health and environment posed by ongoing discharges of raw sewage, the United States requests that the court hear this matter on an expedited basis.”
According to msnbc, “The waste water systems are improving, but the local government has paid nearly $3 million in court fines as it has struggled for more than 20 years to comply with federal orders to improve its sewage system.”
This is our paradise, and if we can’t save it for the next generation and all the other generations to come, it is best we kiss it goodbye.
Lewin, Aldeth. “Sewage Being Dumped in the V.I. Waters.”
Virgin Islands Daily News: 13 March 2010 pg6