ST. CROIX – The V.I. Waste Management Authority is ahead of schedule on the construction of its Waste Transfer Station, which is necessary in order to close the Anguilla Landfill by the Jan. 31 deadline mandated by the Federal Aviation Administration, said Executive Director May Cornwall.
The crew has cleared the area, built up the base and laid the concrete foundation, she said. They will pour the bottom floor slab and place the rebar in the coming work days.
“We’re pretty happy about the pace,” Cornwall said. “We’re working regular hours because we were ahead of schedule. And that’s the tricky part, is staying ahead of schedule. So, we’re just chugging along and hoping no bad weather comes our way.”
Once the transfer station, which encompasses more than 20,000 square feet, is up and running, Waste Management will be able to shut down the landfill almost immediately and begin the process of closing it, Cornwall said. The solid waste produced on St. Croix will be taken to the transfer station to be processed and wrapped into blocks to create the 3-to-1 slope of the landfill’s incline that is required by federal law, Cornwall said.
Once Anguilla is closed off, the blocks from the transfer station would be shipped to the Bovoni Landfill on St. Thomas, where work also is moving forward to close the landfill.
Cornwall testified before senators in August that it did not appear that the transfer station would be completed in time for the Anguilla closure deadline. A series of delays – including a required wetlands mitigation resulting from heavy rains a year ago – have stalled the project for some time.
The V.I. Port Authority, which owns the property Anguilla sits on, has been under heavy pressure from the FAA to ensure the landfill is closed by the Jan. 31 deadline, said Port Authority Assistant Executive Director David Mapp.
“There is no opportunity in the lease agreement for an extension,” Mapp said at the same senate session. “Not only do they intend to see us enforce the conveyance of the lease, but that we make every effort to enforce the fine. The hammer over our head is the loss of .5 million a year of our entitlement funds. That’s what we use for capital projects. We can ill afford to lose those funds.”
The FAA has labeled the Anguilla Landfill a safety hazard for Rohlsen Airport because of its proximity to the runway, drawing a large quantity of birds that could affect airplanes taking off and landing. The issue has been recurring since the early 1990s, but increased pressure has been added in the last several years, officials said.
If Anguilla does not close by Jan. 31, the Port Authority would begin to levy a ,000-per-day fine on Waste Management, Mapp said.
“We don’t want to get to that point,” Mapp said recently. “My understanding is they’re working as hard as possible with their contractor in order to meet their deadline. At this point today, we don’t anticipate getting to that point.”
As Waste Management pushes along the construction, it regularly assesses the progress, Cornwall said.
“We are keeping a close eye on it,” she said.
At the moment, the construction crew plans to continue working regular hours, but Cornwall said that if they start to fall behind at all, they will have to consider how to make up ground.
The transfer station building already has been pre-fabricated and is expected to arrive next week, Cornwall said.
