EPA To Do Municipal Solid Waste Study Of U.S. Virgin Islands Landfills

CHARLOTTE AMALIE — As part of their continuing efforts to help the territories recover from the long-term impacts from Hurricanes Irma and Maria, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the University of the Virgin Islands (UVI) announced they are collaborating to complete a municipal solid waste study of the landfills in the territory.

The study is supported through federal grants and contracts to assist the U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Planning and Natural Resources (VIDPNR) and the U.S. Virgin Islands Waste Management Authority (VIWMA) to solve landfill capacity overflow.

“The U.S. Virgin Islands was already facing a waste management crisis when Hurricanes Irma and Maria struck the islands, worsening the problem,” says EPA Regional Administrator Pete Lopez. “Working with our federal, territory and education partners, this study will help create environmentally and economically sustainable long-term waste management strategies, including waste reduction and recycling programs.”

A solid waste characterization study allows the government to understand the composition of materials discarded in the waste stream.

“This collaborative study will benefit our whole community, and it is imperative that we individually do our part to improve the environment,” says Jacqueline Heyliger, FEMA’s U.S. Virgin Islands recovery director.“By reducing and repurposing the waste in our landfills, we will achieve economic growth while ultimately improving human health and the health of our environment. We work best when we work together.” 

Waste characterization data is collected by taking samples of waste and sorting it into material types, including recyclable items such as newspapers, cardboard, plastic bottles, glass bottles and jars, tin cans and small appliances.

“This combined effort between V.I. Waste Management, EPA and UVI will provide us with a useful snapshot of the waste stream in the territory,” Greg Guannel, the director of the Caribbean Green Technology Center at UVI, said. Results will be extremely informative for planning strategies to increase opportunities for recycling and composting and make our islands even more beautiful.”

Over a four-day period, EPA and UVI will characterize waste from all three U.S. Virgin Islands at the Bovoni landfill on St. Thomas and the Anguilla landfill on St. Croix. The study is an update to the 2009 waste characterization study on St. Thomas.

The Bovoni and Anguilla landfills are rapidly nearing maximum capacity and were ordered to either close or to come into compliance to meet federal requirements for landfills by 2022. To properly plan for future short-term and long-term solid waste management solutions, information gathered in a municipal waste characterization study about the current waste generation is required. The information will help determine the size of new landfills, what materials could be diverted from landfilling, if waste-to-energy is an option for the islands, and how much recyclable material is being landfilled and if it would be economically beneficial to recycle it.

This study is the first step in developing and updating waste management programs and evaluating ways to reduce and manage waste and cut disposal costs.

In addition to helping create an integrated waste management program, the data collected will inform the government of the U.S. Virgin Islands in its efforts to craft recycling policies.

SOURCE: WASTE TODAY

https://www.wastetodaymagazine.com/article/epa-msw-characterization-study-virgin-islands-landfills/

https://www.waste360.com/landfill-operations/epa-studies-msw-composition-us-virgin-islands-landfills

6 comments

  1. The abandond Public Housing in The TuTu Highrise community is currently empty and the
    Repair schedule has not been announced
    By the Bryan Administration forcing tens
    Of thousands of residence to find suitable
    Housing in a turbulent real estate market for
    Renters and families with section 8 vouchers
    Who are finding affordable housing difficult
    And few in number throughout the territory.

  2. The Bryan Administration refuses to take the lead by initiating Arc Plasma Recycling which is a new
    State of the art green Recycling technology which
    We must utilize forthwith or risk the collapse of our islands landfills ecosystem throughout the
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  4. InEnTec has been operating several Arc Plasma Disposal Systems in Washington and Oregon and also has a portable flatbed system.

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  6. As an NYU Graduate in Social Sciences I am tasked with regenerating Society by the full examination of the flaws and correct them.
    I am convinced that that Economy of the US
    Virgin Islands has been irreparably damaged
    And thus Emergency measures must now
    Be initiated by our trusted legislators who
    Currently rule this Territory amid the loss of
    Millions in Dollars attributed to the Category
    (5) devastation that pervades these islands.
    The Universal Basic Income program is now
    Sweeping the Globe and must be considered
    By the Bryan Administration as our only Hope
    In restarting our entire Virgin Islands Economy.
    As a young boy growing up in Brooklyn NY I saw how money circled within a community and that
    Is what held it together. The UBI is the only way
    That the US Virgin Islands Economy can restart
    By infusing currency into the hands of citizens
    Who will then Recycle those Dollars into all of
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    Difficult time. The President of the United States
    Will sign UBI into law and initiate payments to
    The lowest income Sr. Citizens and disadvantage
    Family members throughout the Territory so we
    Can close the gap of poverty that is pervading the nation we call our Home. We cannot afford to
    Sit by while our Brothers and Sisters suffer from
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