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Published by the University of the Virgin Islands Cooperative Extension Service VI NPS Update Table of Contents Residents Present Environmental Concerns to EPA Region 2 . . . . . . . . . 1 63% of V.I. Water Suppliers Fail to Provide Consumer Confidence Reports to their Customers . . . . . . 1 EPA Disapproves V.I. Solid Waste Regulatory Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Are Toxic Chemicals Lurking in Your Home? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 UVI-CES Offers Composting Workshops 2 UVI Senior Recognized by the Estuarine Research Federation . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Culebra Community Coral Reef Conservation Focuses on Erosion Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 UVI-CDC Trains Virgin Islanders in Photo Interpretation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Web Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Upcoming Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Nonpoint Source Pollution Committee Newsletter Vol. 3, No. 1 March 2000 Residents Present Environmental Concerns to EPA Region 2 U.S. EPA Region 2 representatives were in the territory February 7-12, 2000 to hold public meetings and to inspect the territory's sewage treatment plants, landfills, and emergency hazardous material removal sites. EPA held meetings on St. Thomas and St. Croix to hear the public's environmental concerns for the territory. High on the meeting attendees' list of concerns was the poor state of the territory's sewage treatment plants and landfills. On the sewage front, EPA reported that a technical team from the New Jersey Water Environment Federation volunteered their time and traveled to St. Croix to provide technical assistance to DPW to try to solve continuing problems at the LBJ and Figtree pumping stations. Residents concerned about the landfills learned that EPA sent an air monitoring expert to St. Croix's Anguilla landfill to test air quality to determine the level of toxins in the landfill fires. EPA will send this data to ATSDR so they can evaluate potential health risks. EPA is also finalizing a consent decree with the V.I. government to clean up St. Thomas' Bovoni landfill. The decree will cover improving security, cleaning up soils, fixing the perimeter fence, a ban on batteries, inspection of material shipments and medical waste, and methane collection. EPA staff also reported on the emergency hazardous material clean-up at the St. Croix Department of Agriculture. Malathion, a pesticide, was transferred from leaking drums into secure containers, and the leaking drums were cleaned up and removed. Soil samples were taken at the site to characterize and assess the extent of contamination, and water samples were also taken from an adjacent livestock pond to test for pesticide contamination. The Virgin Islands Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) report is scheduled to be released soon. EPA is planning an information and training session to be held April 27, 2000 on St. Thomas for industries that are required to report data to the TRI. For more information on the TRI report or workshops, contact Jim Casey, U.S. EPA, at (340) 714-2333. 63% of V.I. Water Suppliers Fail to Provide Consumer Confidence Reports to their Customers The federal Safe Drinking Water Act requires that all community water systems provide their customers with a brief annual water quality report, called a Consumer Confidence Report (CCR). These reports must include information on where the water comes from, the levels of any detected contaminants, and compliance with federal drinking water rules. Every water system that has at least 15 service connections that serve year-round residents or that regularly serves at least 25 year-round residents must prepare and distribute a CCR. Community systems include towns, homeowner associations, apartments and condominiums that supply cistern water, and water wholesalers. In the Virgin Islands, 94 out of a total 150 community water systems failed to meet the October 19, 1999 deadline to comply with the Consumer Confidence Report Rule. EPA has issued orders for compliance with CCR requirements to those 94 public water suppliers. For a list of non-compliant systems or further information on the CCR rule or the Safe Drinking Water Act, call Jim Casey, U.S. EPA, at (340) 714-2333. EPA Disapproves V.I. Solid Waste Regulatory Program EPA reports that the agency will not approve the V.I. Solid Waste Regulatory Program. This program would allow DPNR to permit and inspect landfills and assess fines for violations. EPA has concluded that DPNR does not have the program structure in place to administer and conduct a viable solid waste regulatory program. EPA has been working with DPNR for over four years to develop the program, and had set conditions for program approval they have not met, including: 1. Rules and regulations governing the program have not been passed and promulgated. 2. No funding is available to install the program. 3. No staff resources are available to implement the program. Once the program disapproval process is completed, EPA has the discretion to take over the regulatory aspects of the territory's solid waste program (regulating, permitting and enforcement). This means that the territory's landfills will be immediately required to come into compliance with federal regulatory criteria. In addition, under the requirements of RCRA Subtitle D (the federal Resource Conservation & Recovery Act), no new landfills can be built or existing landfills expanded until the Virgin Islands has an EPA-approved program. EPA has been working diligently with DPNR to enable them to meet program conditions. EPA will re- consider delegating the program to DPNR once they provide evidence that the necessary requirements have been met. Are Toxic Chemicals Lurking in Your Home? For most of us the answer is "Yes." Many commonly-used household products can trigger allergies or illnesses, harm septic systems, and pollute our coastal and ground waters. Some of these products can also have long-term toxic effects on humans and the environment. Alternatives to these products include inexpensive and easy to obtain common VI*A*Syst worksh op participants learn ab out septic system design, operation and maintenance. Graph of dissolved oxygen levels across Brew ers Ba y (creek at upper left corne r). Com posting works hop pa rticipants at UVI o n St. Croix p ose w ith dem onstratio n com posters . household items like baking soda and vinegar. Not only can changing habits improve your health and the health of our environment, you can also save money ! This message was delivered to 30 trainees at the UVI-CES "Safe & Healthy Home" Train-the- Trainer workshops, held December 8 th and 9 th, 1999 on St. Thomas and St. Croix. The workshops provided information about toxic properties and effects of common household cleaning products and other items, how to read product labels, less-toxic alternatives, and proper disposal of household hazardous wastes. The "Safe & Healthy Home" workshops were part of the "Train-the-Trainer" workshop series conducted by CES's VI*A*Syst (V.I. Home and Farm Water Quality Assessment) Program. The workshops were funded by the V.I. Resource Conservation and Development Council, Inc. through DPNR Nonpoint Source Pollution Management Program grant funds. VI*A*Syst is a partner in the National Farm*A*Syst/Home*A*Syst Program sponsored by the USDA Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service (CSREES), the U.S. EPA, and the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). VI*A*Syst is a voluntary pollution prevention program that offers Virgin Islanders a simple and effective way to help protect water quality, public health and their quality of life, by helping residents change behaviors or implement practices to reduce pollution risks in and around their homes, yards and/or farms. Six training workshops were conducted through this project for 69 representatives of UVI, VI RC&D, various territorial and federal government agencies, community organizations, tenant councils and home owner associations. For more information on less toxic household products or to participate in the VI*A*Syst program, contact Julie Wright, UVI-CES, at (340) 693-1082 or jwright@uvi.edu. UVI-CES Offers Composting Workshops Looking for a way to improve your soil and grow healthier plants? Want to reduce the number of trips you make to the dumpster? Want to share what you learn with your friends and colleagues? The UVI Cooperative Extension Service (CES), in cooperation with the VI Resource Conservation & Development Council, Inc. (RC&D) and the V.I. Department of Agriculture, can teach you how to turn your yard waste and food scraps into nutrient-rich compost to improve your soil's fertility. Composting "Train-the-Trainer" Workshops will be held May 8-9 on St. Croix in Room 133 of the UVI Research & Extension Center and May 11-12 on St. Thomas in the UVI-CES Conference Room, from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. These workshops are being conducted as part of the UVI-CES "Backyard Composting Project," funded by a grant from RC&D. The project aims to reduce the territory s overflowing landfills by composting yard waste. The workshops will train V.I. residents in the principles and practices of composting. Practical lectures and hands-on demonstrations will be given in setting up and maintaining a compost pile. Participants completing this two-day workshop will then be qualified to train and influence other residents to begin backyard composting. The goal is for this trend to catch on as more residents gain a better understanding of the importance of recycling their waste. Representatives of local schools, community organizations, home owner and neighborhood associations, and other interested persons or groups are invited to participate. To register for the workshops, contact UVI-CES, St. Croix, at (340) 692-4069 or UVI-CES, St. Thomas, at (340) 693-1080. UVI Senior Receives National Recognition Barry Volson, a senior marine biology major at UVI, was selected as a finalist for best research project by the Estuarine Research Federation at its15th Biennial International Conference in New Orleans. Volson presented his study on the impact of the airport runway extension on water quality in John Brewer's Bay. Volson's research measured dissolved oxygen (DO), temperature, and salinity across Brewers Bay. His research found significant minimum DO levels at low tide in the mouth of the creek entering Brewers Bay, and that the creek is a significant source of warmer water during both high and low tides. Volson's paper concluded that physical changes in the bay resulting from the airport runway extension diminished wave energy in the bay, thereby reducing mixing, flushing and DO. He also found that changing levels of DO, temperature, and salinity appeared to be related to the influence of drainage channels around the bay, especially the creek on the north side of the runway. Volson was one of 11 finalists selected from a pool of 300 undergraduates from Historically Black Colleges and Universities who submitted abstracts to the ERF. It was the first time a UVI student participated in the ERF conference, where over 700 other abstracts on estuarine research were presented by scientists from around the globe. "I'm very fortunate to get this opportunity," Volson said. "Out of 300 minorities it's difficult to choose 11, and out of the 11, for one to be from UVI, I m just overwhelmed to be that one." Culebra Community Coral Reef Conservation Focuses on Erosion Control The people of Culebra are taking charge of the health of their coral reefs. The Fishermen's Association of Culebra, Caribbean wildlife artist Carolyn Steele, and CORALations, a nonprofit ocean conservation organization based in Puerto Rico, are uniting with government agencies to implement a community coral reef conservation initiative on the island of Culebra. Virtually all of Culebra's coastline is bordered by coral reef, seagrass and mangrove ecosystems. Culebra also has highly erodible volcanic soils, similar to those in St. Thomas and St. John. When land is cleared with no erosion or sediment control practices in place, the exposed soils wash down hillsides and spill into coastal waters. This eroded soil, or sediment, floats in the water blocking sun light that corals and sea Photo Interpretation students examine an image using a mirror stereoscope. grass need to grow, and smothers corals, sea grasses, and bottom-dwelling organisms as it settles. The goals of the program are to encourage builders and property owners to develop and implement comprehensive erosion and sediment control plans for their construction sites and to provide homeowners and the construction industry with information on proper planning and erosion and sediment control practices. "This program strives to build a consensus among the community and developers that failure to implement erosion and sediment control measures results in damage to the coral reef ecosystem, which is not in anyone's best interest," explains CORALations Executive Director, Mary Ann Lucking. Residents are being encouraged to officially report possible violations to the local government and to CORALations for follow up. CORALations is also seeking volunteers for a pro-active emergency sediment control team to help transport hay or silt fence materials from mainland Puerto Rico. For more information, contact CORALations at corals@caribe.net or 1-877-77CORAL. UVI-CDC Trains Virgin Islanders in Photo Interpretation The UVI Conservation Data Center (CDC) issued certificates of completion to four staff members from The Nature Conservancy, DPNR and UVI participating in a one-week Basic Aerial Photo Interpretation training course on January 14, 2000 and to 19 participants in a four-week training course ending February 5, 2000. Students learned how to orient aerial photos, how to scale photos and measure objects, and how to use information available on the photo to interpret the environment. According to Nick Drayton, Chief of Conservation Science and Stewardship at The Nature Conservancy, the class "was a good course. The information was well presented and as comprehensive as the participants wanted it to be. We got a lot of personal attention." Participants of the second training class came from architectural and engineering firms, local government agencies, the University of the Virgin Islands and a real estate appraisal firm. A second course, Advanced Aerial Photo Interpretation, began February 15 and ended March 11. This class focused on planning a successful aerial photography project, including measuring distances on the ground, developing flight lines for varying topography, calculating displacement and taking bearings. The classes were sponsored by CDC and taught by James Hogan, a certified photogrammetrist and cartographer. The CDC is a unit within the UVI Eastern Caribbean Center that collects, analyzes and disseminates information on the natural resources of the U.S. Virgin Islands. For more information on photo interpretation or the CDC, contact Dayle Barry at (340) 693-1030 or dbarry@uvi.edu. Web Resources Adopt-a-Watershed. Provides teachers and community coordinators skills to engage K- 12 in a watershed curriculum. Visit www.adopt- a-watershed.org. Coral Bleaching Indices. NOAA National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS) has inaugurated a new on-line "Coral Reef Bleaching Indices." Visit NOAA's Bleaching HotSpot website at: http://psbsgi1.nesdis.noaa.gov:8080/PSB/EPS /SST/climohot.html. Constructed wetlands to treat sewage or stormwater : www.waterrecycling.com/constwetlands.htm www.usouthal,edu/usa/civileng/wetlands.htm http://ag.arizona.edu/AZWATER/arroyo/094we t.html. Environmental Finance Center, University System of Maryland: www.mdsg.umd.edu/EFC/ Environmental Finance Program: www.epa.gov/efinpage/. Environmental Monitoring for Public Access and Community Tracking (EMPACT) RFP: http://es.epa.gov/ncerqu/rfa/2000empact.html. EPA Grant Opportunities: http://es.epa.gov/oeca/oej/epagrantoffer.html www.epa.gov/owow/watershed/funding.html. EPA Grant Writing Tutorial: www.epa.gov/seahome/grants/src/title.htm. EPA s Green Communities Assistance Kit. Green communities are where residents, business, industry and government work together to ensure a sustainable future. Visit www.epa.gov/region03/greehkit. National Small Flows Clearinghouse. Includes newsletters, general information on wastewater and links to other sites. Visit www.nsfc.wvu.edu. Nonpoint Education for Municipal Officials (NEMO). NEMO explains to the public nonpoint sources of pollution and their relationship to land usage, utilizing a variety of tools, including GIS. Visit: www.canr.uconn.edu/ces/nemo/index.html. NRCS Water Quality Monitoring Training Course. Free self-paced course on the design of water quality monitoring to evaluate effectiveness of nonpoint source BMPs. Visit: www.ftw.nrcs.usda.gov/nedc/homepage.html. Proposal Writing Short Course: http://fdncetner.org/onlib/shortcourse/prop1.ht ml. Texas Nonpoint Source Book. Includes an urban NPS pollution primer, urban runoff management programs, urban water characterization methods, and interactive BMP selection. Visit www.txnpsbook.org. Water Environment Federation (WEF). WEF is an international not-for-profit educational and technical organization of water experts. Visit www.wef.org. Water Science for Schools. USGS website covers water basics, earth's water, special topics, water Q&A, water use, a picture gallery (NPS- related) and activity center. Visit http://water.usgs.gov/droplet. Water-Wastewater Web. This site promotes communication, education and information exchange between professionals in the wastewater industry. Visit www.w-ww.com. Upcoming Events Local April 27-29, 2000. Seventh Annual Earth Day Eco-Fair 2000, 8:30 a.m.-2:15 p.m., St. George Village Botanical Gardens. Contact SEA, (340) 773-1989 for information. April 27, 2000. Toxic Release Inventory workshop, St. Thomas. Contact Jim Casey, U.S. EPA, (340) 714-2333 for information. May 16-19, 2000. Coast and Beach Stability in the Caribbean Islands Conference, Puerto Rico. Contact Ruperto Chaparro at r_chaparro@rumac.upr.clu.edu for more information. May 16-18, 2000. Introduction to ArcView ® GIS Workshop. Contact Stevie Henry, UVI-CDC, (340) 693-1033 or visit http://cdc.uvi.edu. May 17, 2000. Indoor Air Quality for a Healthy Home Training Workshop, room T101, UVI St. Thomas and room REC 133, UVI St. Croix. Contact Julie Wright, UVI- CES, (340) 693-1082 for information. May 22-25, 2000. "Caribbean Urban Forestry Conference, "Reflections of the Past - Visions of the Future," Divi Carina Bay Resorts & Casino, St. Croix, VI. Visit http://rps.uvi.edu/CES/urbanforest.html or contact Dr. Louis Petersen, UVI-CES, (340) 693-1080 for information. National April 3, 2000. Abstracts due for 32 nd Annual International Erosion Control Association Conference & Expo, Las Vegas, Nevada. Visit www.ieca.org or contact IECA, (970) 879-3010 for information. April 17-19, 2000. National Watershed Outreach Conference, San Diego, Printed on Recycled Paper with Soy Ink. VI NPS Update mail-in co upon. %¡ YES, please add me to the VI NPS Update mailing list. %¡ Please change my address. Name : Organization: Address: City/State/Zip: Phone/Fax: Email/We bsite: To have your article, announcement or activity included in VI NPS Update , please mail, fax or email your submission to the Ed itor at: VI NPS Update , c/o Julie Wrigh t, UVI Coo perative Exten sion Service, # 2 John Bre wers Bay, S t. Thom as, VI 00 802-9 990, fax (340) 6 93-10 85, em ail: jwright@uvi.edu. Nonpoint source (NPS) pollution results from rain water flowing over and through the ground, picking up pollutants and depositing them into guts, salt ponds, beaches, coastal waters, and ground water. Editor & D esigner: Julie Wright, UVI-CES Reviewers: Dayle Barry, UVI-CDC Clarice Clarke, UVI-CES Janice Hodge, DPNR-CZM Rudy G. O Reilly, Jr., USDA-NRCS Photograp her: Dale Morton, UVI-CES California. Contact Stacie Craddock, U.S. EPA, at (202) 260-3788 or visit www.epa.gov/OWOW/watershed/outreach/ events/aprilconf.html for information. April 25-27, 2000. NWQMC National Monitoring Conference: Monitoring for the Millennium, Hyatt Regency, Austin, TX. Visit http://mwqmc.site.net or call (405) 516-4972 for information. June 11-13, 2000. The Ecology of Urban Soils: Designing and Managing Soils for the Living Landscape, St. Paul, MN. Visit www.scisoc.org/opae/shortcourse or call (651) 454-7250 for information. July 9-12, 2000. The Coastal Society 17 th International Conference, Portland Marriott, Portland, OR. Contact Laurie Jodice, (541) 737-1340 or visit www.oce.orst.edu/mrm/tcs17/confhome.ht ml. September 11-14, 2000. 8th National Nonpoint Source Monitoring Workshop- Monitoring and Modeling Nonpoint Source Pollution in the Rural-Urban Interface, Hartford, Connecticut. Contact: John C. Clausen, (860) 486-2840 or jclausen@canr.uconn.edu, or visit www.ce.uconn.edu/nps.html. October 17-19, 2000. NEMO University, workshop for members of the national NEMO network, Connecticut. Contact John Rozum, at jrozum@canr.uconn.edu or (860) 345-4511 for information. January 7-9, 2001. Integrated Decision - Making for Watershed Management Symposium: Processes and Tools, National 4H Conference Center, Chevy Chase, MD. For information, visit www.vt.edu/watershed.htm or contact Dr. Darrell Bosch, (540) 231-7417. March 11-14, 2001. Ninth National Symposium on Individual and Small Community Sewage Systems, Radisson - Fort Worth, TX. For information, contact Dr. James Converse, (608) 262-1106 or jcconver@facstaff.wisc.edu. VI NPS Update is a quarterly newsletter published by the University of the Virgin Islands Cooperative Extension Service, Kwame Garcia, State Director, and produced by the Virgin Islands Nonpoint Source Pollution Committee to inform the public about projects funded by U.S. EPA Nonpoint Source Pollution Management (§319) grants and other NPS pollution control/prevention projects in the territory, and to provide information and material regarding the control/prevention of NPS pollution. No endorsement of products or firms is intended, nor is criticism implied of those not mentioned. Issued by the Virgin Islands Cooperative Extension Service and the U.S. Department of Agriculture in furtherance of the acts of May 8 and June 30, 1914. Extension programs and policies are consistent with federal and state laws and regulations on non-discrimination regarding race, color, national origin, religion, gender, age, disability or gender preference. Funding for VI NPS Update provided by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Nonpoint Source Pollution Management Program through the Virgin Islands Department of Planning and Natural Resources, Dean C. Plaskett, Esq., Commissioner.