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"Environmental Deterioration" is not a term used by scientists, but we all know it when we see it.

Loss of environmental quality occurs over time, even generations. As part of a dispute over increased demands to be placed on the watershed feeding into Vessup Bay--where the Foundation was headquartered for a quarter of a century--Ed Towle summarized a series of official government reports and documents which show the steady loss of water quality. We don't often get to see such a decline so clearly, clinically and irresistibly documented.

Resource Conflicts at Red Hook : VESSUP BAY WATER QUALITY

1970-1995

A Chronology and Profile of Escalating Stress

Compiled from USVI and US Government Documents
This "Profile" was prepared by Dr. Edward L. Towle, former Director, Caribbean Research Institute, College of the Virgin Islands (1967-1972); currently, Executive Director and President, Island Resources Foundation, St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands (1972 to date). Founding President of the Virgin Islands Conservation Society, former President of the regional Caribbean Conservation Association (1968-1974), United Nations Environment Program "Global 500 Award" recipient (1988).]

[NB. To the reader: all explanatory or editorial comments in this profile of Vessup Bay and its resident sewage treatment plant are in brackets, and documents cited are all in the public domain and accessible from the public library, the University of the Virgin Islands library or the Island Resources Foundation reference library at Red Hook.]

1970 (November) - EVALUATION

"The entire Redhook/Muller/Vessup Bay complex, considering the total area involved, is one of generally good water quality ... [but]

"Portions of this area have suffered some ... reduction in environmental quality ... [and] this is most marked in Vessup Bay where stresses on the water quality are aggravated by poor circulation and flushing in the shallow head of the bay ... and by the ill effects from human activity ... along the northern shore.

"The southwestern half of Vessup Bay [11 acres] should be deepened to a depth of about ten feet [to improve circulation and triple the supply of dissolved oxygen] and the low lying government-owned land between the road and the bay could be converted to an attractive water front park and picnic area.

"It is recommended that effluents from sewage treatment facilities not be discharged into Vessup Bay [but] discharged to sea in an outfall [as] whatever is discharged into these waters will ... concentrate in the southwest end and produce conditions less than desirable."

SOURCE: Grigg, David, et al., 1970. Water Quality and Marine Environment of Vessup Bay, St. Thomas. Caribbean Research Institute, College of the Virgin Islands. Contracted study for Pedrito Francois, the Department of Health, Government of the Virgin Islands. CRI Water Pollution Report #8.

1972 (August) - DEVELOPMENT ACCELERATES

"Several new piers have been built on the north shore of the bay and effluent from the [new] Nazareth School treatment plant is now dumped into the shallow water in the northwest corner at the head of the bay, where the water has become noticeably murkier."

[NB. Between February 1970 and March 1972 the dissolved oxygen average for nine sample stations in Vessup Bay went down from 6.5 to 6.3 mg/l (milligrams per litre) - see Table 7].

SOURCE: Grigg, D. and van Eepoel, R., 1972. Status Report on Bays of St. Thomas and St. John, Virgin Islands. Caribbean Research Institute, College of the Virgin Islands. Contracted study for Pedrito Francois, Division of Environmental Health, Department of Health, Government of the Virgin Islands. CRI Water Pollution Report #19.

1975 (October) - Dredging outer Bay

"Inshore of the cut area ... there are few fishes, and turbidity is noticeably higher toward the west."

[NB. Dissolved oxygen at the inner most Vessup Bay water quality station dropped to 6.0 mg/l.]

SOURCE: Insular Environments, 1975. Environmental Reconnaissance Surveys of Selected Bays. Contracted report for Division of Natural Resources Management, Department of Conservation and Cultural Affairs, Government of the Virgin Islands. [Insular Environments was the consulting firm of David Grigg and Robert van Eepoel, both former employees of the Caribbean Research Institute at the College of the Virgin Islands.]

1979 - New Pollution Indicators for Embayments

An EPA-funded study published in the Virgin Islands in early 1979 provided environmental planners with a new tool to estimate the risk for local shoreline development in various types of embayments in the territory. The limited tidal range tends to limit water exchange in elongated bays like Magens and Vessup. The new tidal prism indexing system which is still used by EPA in design and planning, enables the coastal planner to rank pollution susceptibility. Vessup Bay, for example, required 27 tidal cycles (essentially days) for a complete exchange of water (compared to 14 for the more open Red Hook/Muller Bay segments). This finding posed new hope for more discriminating land use decisions for coastal areas near bay heads like the westerly shorelines of Vessup but it also confirmed that Vessup Bay had the highest pollution susceptibility index of any bay on St. Thomas and the second highest in the Territory. The warning signal was relatively clear.

SOURCE: Nichols, N. and Kuo, A., 1979. Virgin Islands Bays: Modeling of Water Quality and Pollution Susceptibility, 1979. Contract # DC-CCA-97-77 for the Department of Conservation and Cultural Affairs, Government of the Virgin Islands.

1979 - Government Divided

Despite the concerns of the V.I. Department of Conservation and Cultural Affairs, construction started on the Red Hook/Vessup Bay POTW or sewage treatment works at the westerly end of Vessup Bay in the mangroves (EPA #VI0020133). There is considerable confusion at present as to whether at the time a proper outfall was required or was to be added. In any event, none was ever built, and the secondary effluent has been discharged directly into the mangrove environment since the plant went on line.

SOURCE: See below, McCrain, 1981, DCCA.

1981 - Mooring Planning By DCCA Leads to Water Use reSurveys

"Vessup Bay is very heavily utilized ... with fair water quality, which has been declining due to increased boat usage, development, and a problematic sewage treatment plant at the western end of the bay. Nutrient build up is obvious from the recurring blooms in the western portion [emphasis added].

"The benthic [bottom] communities are depauperate ..., water circulation is poor, as is flushing action. The impact of vessel waste could be detrimental ...."

[Figures 5 and 6 show Vessup's two water quality stations, 22A and 22B, as having the second highest coliform readings and the second highest turbidity levels out of the twenty bays reported on for the period 1978, 1979 and 1980.]

SOURCE: Environmental Information Relevant to the Installation of Boat Moorings in the Coastal Waters of the U.S. Virgin Islands, 1981. Division of Policy and Planning, Department of Conservation and Cultural Affairs, Government of the Virgin Islands. [See also alternative title for different format and version of more or less the same document with additional maps and tables, A Report on the Environmental Quality and Documented Physical and Biological Conditions of Bays to be included in the Proposed Water Use Policies, 1981, DCCA.]

1981 (July) - Sewage Plant Shakedown Problems

[While] "... there is no indication that fecal coliform concentrations have increased over the past several years, biologists from the Division of Natural Resources have indicated that the [sampling] data does not tell the true story in regards to sewage input into the harbor [and the new secondary sewage treatment plant of Public Works at Vessup Bay]. Ironically, a defective pump station, malfunctioning plant equipment and associated plumbing problems have been responsible for the runoff of sewage directly into the bay during peak demand periods, resulting in a serious pollution problem. Unless sampling times correspond with the period of septic overflow, the sewage problem goes undetected. On a few occasions coliform counts have exceeded 200/100 ml -- well above acceptable health standards." [Class B Waters require no more than 70/100 ml seawater.]

SOURCE: McCrain, J., 1981. Status Report and Management Recommendations for the Vessup/Muller/Red Hook Bay Complex Area of Particular Concern (APC). Division of Coastal Zone Management, Department of Conservation and Cultural Affairs, Government of the Virgin Islands.

1983 (March) - Growth in the Marine Sector

"The north shore of Vessup Bay contains several minor docks, a major marina facility (American Yacht Harbor, formerly Johnny Harms Lagoon Marina), and the public dock facility operated by the Virgin Islands Port Authority. In June 1970, 93 boats were counted while in March of 1983 ... [the number stood at 196]. [The Virgin Islands National Park Service has a docking facility on the southern shore of the bay.]

"Occasional faulty [sewage] plant operations has resulted in periodic raw sewage flow into the bay with resulting high fecal coliform counts and odor problems in the area (personal communication, R. Boulon, Director, Bureau of Fish and Wildlife, DCCA)."

"Management Recommendations:

(i) Terminate the bay head sewage plant outfall

(ii) Construct new outfall east of Red Hook Point

(iii) Terminate vessel sewage discharge in bay

(iv) Require land facilities to connect to plant

(v) Control soil erosion, nutrient inputs

SOURCE: Wernicke, W. and Towle, E., 1983. Vessel Waste Control Plan for the U.S. Virgin Islands. Contracted study carried out by Island Resources Foundation for the Division of Natural Resources Management, Department of Conservation and Cultural Affairs, Government of the Virgin Islands.

1983 - Vessup Pollution Loading Capacity Issue Raised

"Vessup and Red Hook Bay are showing signs of adverse impact caused by human activity. The capacity of the Vessup or Red Hook areas to maintain acceptable environmental standards is not unlimited. Guidelines must be developed to assure that environmental conditions in the area do not deteriorate.

"One fact appears to be without doubt is that the existing government owned sewage treatment in Vessup Bay is a major contributor to the present range of problems and the sewage outfall should be relocated seaward of Red Hook Point."

SOURCE: deJongh, R and Associates and URS/Madigan Praeger, 1983. Red Hook Marine Terminal Master Plan and Feasibility Study. Prepared for the V.I. Port Authority.

1986 - DCCA Reports To EPA That Vessup Problems Continue

"In the back waters of the bay, turbidity is high and fecal coliform and dissolved oxygen levels fluctuate greatly occasionally exceeding WQS [water quality standards].

"An EPA/DPW consent decree requiring repairs and strict compliance with the conditions of the TPDES permit for the POTW should eliminate the major source of contamination in this bay."

SOURCE: DCCA Staff, USVI 305b Report, May 1986

1988 - Vessup Bay on EPA 304(l) List

[Under the U.S. Clean Water Act's Section 304(l), the U.S. Virgin Islands Territory is required (1) to identify water bodies impaired by the presence of toxic substances; (2) to identify point source origins of these pollutants; and (3) to develop Individual Control Strategies (ICS) for these discharges.

In April 1988, Vessup Bay was placed on the Virgin Islands "list" as Waterbody #59 (see Table B and Table 2), with identified threats from:

(a) excessive nutrient inputs

(b) dissolved oxygen problems

(c) pathogens from marina activity

(d) resident and itinerant vessel wastes (docked, moored and at anchor)

(e) intermittent raw sewage from DPW's POTW.

The site requires an ICS (Individual Control Strategy) for reducing the impact of these five threats degrading the Vessup Bay ecosystem. None seems to have been completed.

Unfortunately, any new development, such as the proposed Nazareth housing initiative, that generates a significant volume of new waste products, especially domestic sewage and waste water nutrients, should have the benefit of an antecedent, in place, functional ICS to incorporate into environmental assessment planning and site specific decision-making.

SOURCE: Center for Environmental Systems, 1988. U.S. Virgin Islands Identification of 304(l) Waterbodies: Candidate Lists. Prepared for USEPA, Monitoring and Data Support Division, Office of Water Regulations and Standards, Office of Water, Washington, D.C.

1991 (July) - EPA Habitat Stress Inventory

Identifies Vessup Bay and deterioration of mangrove habitat in new document reflective of concern for health of the territorial insular ecosystem and its sub-units -- see especially Table #9.

SOURCE: Tetratech, 1991. Distinctive Habitats Of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands: Determination of the Type, Degree and Sources of Environmental Stress. Report prepared for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency [TC5314].

1992 (May) - EPA Pursues DISAGGREGATED Site Pollutant ID

"Vessup Bay (Map #15) is declining as a result of marinas and their associated pollution, an increase in boat traffic, sewage disposal and runoff as sources of stress."

SOURCE: Tetratech, 1992. Report Characterizing Use Impairments of the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. Report Prepared for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Maine and Wetlands Branch, Region II.

1993 - Annual Compliance Evaluation for TPDES/POTW sites

[Vessup plant inspection is scheduled in August, a low loading month considering that schools are closed, and tourist arrivals are marginal. Furthermore, one inspection per year appears insufficient.

Source: DPNR, 1993 Water Pollution Control Workplan (see Section II, Compliance Evaluation Inspections).

1993 - CZM/APC Management Planning Presents New Options for Conflict Resolution and Co-Management at Vessup Site

The completion of a Management Plan for the Vessup Bay/Red Hook APC (Area of Particular Concern) and its approval by the Virgin Islands Legislature could be considered sufficient grounds to warrant preparation of a full EIA (Environmental Impact Assessment) for any large project scheduled to be undertaken within this core APC management area. This is especially true if the project has been exempted or excluded from almost any aspect of the normal development control planning review, approval or permitting process.

Ignoring the existence of the guidelines developed within the APC planning framework presents the risk of setting an unfortunate and highly visible precedent regarding by-passing the preferred procedure in the name of expedience, time being allegedly of the essence.]

SOURCE: Island Resources Foundation (IRF), 1993. Vessup Bay/Red Hook Area of Particular Concern (APC) and Area of Preservation and Restoration (APR), Draft Management Plan. Contracted study prepared for Department of Planning and Natural Resources (#PC PNR-330-92). [Note: the Virgin Islands Government final APC document, as edited by DPNR/CZM program personnel and subsequently approved by the V.I. Legislature, omits several sections of the original IRF final draft which are pertinent to this Vessup Bay water quality and waste management control issue.]