DPNR Closes Down Mars Hills Offices Today Due To WAPA Potable Water Issue

John McCarthyPosted oninAt VIFreep, Breaking News, Business News, Consumer News, St. Croix News, Technology News

FREDERIKSTED — DPNR Commissioner nominee Jean-Pierre Oriol said his Planning and Natural Resources Department closed all offices at its Mars Hill location on St. Croix at 12:00 p.m. today due to no potable water in the building.

DPNR contacted the Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority (WAPA) and has been notified that water service would not resume until later in the afternoon, Oriol said.

DPNR said it “apologizes for any inconvenience this may cause and thanks the community for their understanding.”

Normal office hours will resume on Tuesday, February 26th at 8 a.m. 

John McCarthy

John F. McCarthy is a veteran journalist in the Caribbean, writing from the "Decision Space" where survival meets the surreal. His reporting steel was tempered by a lineage of legendary editors and broadcasters, including Ed Wynn Brant (The Bomb), Owen Eschenroder (Ann Arbor News), Lynelle Emanuel (BVI Beacon), and Charles Thanas (WSVI-TV). Alongside longtime colleague Kenneth C. "Casey" Clark, McCarthy has navigated the front lines of the territory’s history—from the 1997 volcanic "snow" to every major hurricane since Hugo. Known for leaning out of doorless helicopters to capture the "money shot," McCarthy now edits the V.I. Free Press, providing the essential link between the island's colonial past and its SpaceX future.