WAPA Polluting our Air, Water and Coral
This an example of the Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority (WAPA) polluting our Air, Water and Coral. This is a violation of the US Clean Water Act, the US Clean Air Act and the US Endangered Species Act. Unfortunately, this is just one of many violations that happen relatively frequently.
Our Communications with EPA Head Office in Washington
This email thread is based upon the EPA letters in our Current Crises Page
From: Susan Wolterbeek
Sent: Thursday, March 17, 2011 1:58 PM
Dear Vincent:
Thank you so much for your immediate response and concern. Attached are my letters to the EPA, NOAA, and the US Attorney’s Office. Please go to www.greenervi.org and you will see many other documents, press releases, articles, etc. on these subjects. We desperately need the help of the EPA, NOW!! What follows is my letter of March 2, 2011 to Judith Enck, which has received no response, although it was also sent to several of her people, who asked me if she had responded yet, so I know absolutely that she got it. It was also in our local newspaper, and she has a clipping service. I appreciate your getting someone to respond to me now, because the silence is deafening, and our territory is in crisis. Thank you, Sincerely, Susan
Non-responsive Messages from EPA Region 2 & EPA Head Office & our reply:
From: Bowen.Vincent, EPA
Sent: Friday, March 18, 2011 11:34 AM
To: Susan Wolterbeek, GreenerVI.org
Subject: Fw: 1.2 million gallons of raw sewage, per day, dumped in our Caribbean coastal water and terrible Air pollution
Follow-up from regional office
—– Forwarded by Vincent Bowen/DC/USEPA/US on 03/18/2011 11:32 AM —–
From: Bonnie Bellow/R2/USEPA/US
To: Vincent Bowen/DC/USEPA/US@EPA
Cc: George Pavlou/R2/USEPA/US@EPA, Lisa Plevin/R2/USEPA/US@EPA
Date: 03/18/2011 11:19 AM
Subject: Re: Fw: 1.2 million gallons of raw sewage, per day, dumped in our Caribbean coastal water and terrible Air pollution
Thank you for reaching out to us. We are well aware of Susan Wolerbeek’s concerns, and have worked closely with her. In fact, she is a member of the VI’s Recycling Partnership, a group created during the past year by our Regional Administrator to address serious solid waste concerns throughout the Virgin Islands. I believe that Ms. Wolterbeek participated in a meeting of the group several weeks ago. We are also well aware of the ongoing sewage discharges. During the week of March 1, I was in the Virgin Islands with the RA, along with other EPA technical experts, and we visited the site of a pump station that has had many failures. The issue was discussed at meetings with high level VI officials during our visit.
We will look into the status of the March 2 letter to the RA and make every effort to respond quickly. I am out of the office today, but you can reach me next week at 212-637-3660.
Bonnie Bellow
Director, Public Affairs Division
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
(212) 637-3660
Our Replies to the EPA Thread Above
From: Susan Wolterbeek
Sent: Friday, March 18, 2011 6:26 PM
To: Bowen.Vincent
Dear Mr. Bowen:
Thank you for the update. Bonnie’s reply is interesting. Yes, they know of my concerns, but they do not respond to any of my concerns. I do not understand what “working closely” is, because I have had no response to these issues for over a year. They admit they are well aware of these sewage discharges- but the dumping continues. They may have spoken with “high level VI officials”, but neither the EPA or those officials deign to give any information to us citizens who keep asking why these massive violations of federal law are allowed to continue. This is killing our coral, our turtles and our tourism.
In my many letters to the EPA, I have raised what amounts to hundreds of counts of violations of federal criminal and civil law, and Region 2 refuses to even answer my letters. This is not “overwhelming transparency”, or even basic professionalism for a federal agency to refuse to answer citizens’ letters focused on violations of law, begging for relief from the dumping of raw sewage. Perhaps with the home office’s input from you, now they will finally reply to my letters.
I am asking you to stay on this, please, and bring it to the attention of Lisa Jackson. Clearly, by the facts presented to you, and not disputed by Region 2, THEY ARE NOT RESPONDING TO MY LETTERS, and raw sewage discharges are a regular occurrence here, at a rate of 1.2 million gallons a day, into what were crystal clear Caribbean coastal waters. So far I have had no reply to my letter of March 2, 2011 or even May 17, 2010, besides “we’re looking into it.” If you go to our website, www.greenervi.org you will see more articles/notices/letters/photographs which I gleaned from the internet. Jim Casey, our local EPA rep, has all the facts and figures as to the discharges.
Sincerely, Susan Wolterbeek
_____________________________________________________
From: Susan Wolterbeek
Sent: Saturday, March 19, 2011 10:06 AM
To: Bowen.Vincent
Subject: protocol for the EPA
Dear Mr. Bowen:
Re-reading Ms. Bellow’s statement to you from Region 2, I really am stunned by the Director of Public Affairs’ clear attempt to be disingenuous with the head office of the EPA. How can Region 2’s willfully ignoring my letters and legal analyses, with hundreds of proven violations of criminal and civil law, be construed as “working closely with” me?
This dumping of millions of gallons of raw sewage has been a part of a federal district court consent order since 1985, yet Region 2 willfully refuses to stop VIWMA’s dumping and WAPA’s polluting, bring a contempt order, or even bother to acknowledge or answer my pleas to help the people of the Virgin Islands. If Ms. Bellow states she will make every effort to respond quickly to my letter of 2 ½ weeks ago…does that mean waiting another 2 ½ weeks for this “quick” response, or a month, another year?
For the past year, while I have been pressing this issue, the EPA has not properly regulated VIWMA, and under the Endangered Species Act, which I urge you to review, Region 2 of the EPA is itself liable. I have been trying to work with the federal agencies on these matters, and for a federal officer to be disingenuous about Region 2’s relations with an honest, concerned citizen is directly in contravention to EPA’s mandate and ethics. Will the head office of the EPA do anything to help us, inform us, and stop this polluting?
Sincerely, Susan K. Wolterbeek
NOAA Notified of Illegal, Continuing Dumping of Raw Sewage
From: Thomas Bigford [mailto:Thomas.Bigford@noaa.gov]
Sent: Friday, April 30, 2010 4:04 PM
To: Susan Wolterbeek
Subject: Re: VIWMA dumping 72 million gallons or raw sewage over Long Reef, St. Croix
Thanks for your phone call and message, Susan. I have relayed the information to others and will follow up with them later today and Monday. I’ll get back to you asap.
Susan Wolterbeek wrote:
April 30, 2010
Mr. Thomas Bigford, Habitat Division (F/HC2)
National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA
1315 East-West Highway, Rm 15317
Silver Spring, MD 20910
Dear Mr. Bigford:
I have been doing the preliminary research on various federal laws and approaches to the problem, and I think the best solution would be to file an amicus brief with the Federal District Court, in conjunction with NOAA, FWS, the Nature Conservancy and the Center for Biological Diversity, and in support of the EPA. Here are the basic facts:
There is a longstanding EPA consent decree based upon prior violations by VIWMA. VIWMA does not abide by the consent decree. VIWMA does not even do the minimum required publishing and reporting every day the fact that it is daily dumping 1.2 million gallons of raw sewage and people should stay out of the coastal waters, and fishermen should not catch fish there. This in itself is a gross negligence for failing to perform the most rudimentary of health care measures. Further, we have a large tourist population during the height of season, and they should have been warned as well as the Virgin Islanders.
Also, this discharge of 72 Million Gallons of raw sewage was dumped near protected wildlife refuges, and in coastal waters which is the home to staghorn and elkhorn coral and their habitat, all protected by the ESA as well as protected turtles, fish, and other species.
VIWMA is fiscally irresponsible, not collecting septage and other basic fees, not keeping all federally mandated records or even issuing an annual report for the past 4 years.
VIWMA has not maintained its equipment, or had a reasonable back-up system, resulting in VIWMA dumping 72 million gallons of raw sewage over Long Reef, St. Croix, over a two month period. VIWMA was told by the EPA to stop dumping but did not do so until it received a Court Order.
Federal District Court Judge Gomez issued specific orders on March 18, 2010. VIWMA then violated those orders as reported in a newspaper article.
Then, VIWMA again dumped raw sewage on April 27, 2010.
Clearly, VIWMA has no interest or intention of following court orders. We cannot wait for VIWMA to dump any more raw sewage.
The Federal District Court has the ability to take extraordinary measures on behalf of the people of the Virgin Islands for human health reasons, for criminal taking of Endangered Species, for wholescale mismanagement of the VIWMA. The Federal District Court may order the EPA to take over management of the VIWMA.
That needs to occur now. If the EPA takes over management of VIWMA, it can stop dumping, buy necessary equipment, say no to Alpine, and focus on a comprehensive waste management plan.
My rough research shows the following:
It is entirely appropriate to file an Amicus Brief , particularly when VIWMA has just violated Federal District Court Orders.
The ESA affects regulation under the Clean Water Act. In early 1999 EPA, FWS, and NMFS published a draft Memorandum of Agreement regarding enhanced coordination under the Clean Water Act and the ESA. 64 Fed. Reg. 2741-57 (January 15, 1999). Moreover, EPA has been negotiating agreements with states that issue NPDES, thus it is also appropriate and helpful to the District Court Judge to get NOAA, FWS, The Nature Conservancy and the Center for Biological Diversity’s point of view on all of this, while the case is currently before the Court.
ESA § 9 makes it unlawful for anyone to “take” a listed animal, and this includes significantly modifying its habitat.
Public Law 100-478, enacted October 7, 1988, (102 Stat 2306) included the following provisions:
- Redefines the definition of “person” to clarify law applies to municipal corporations.
Thus, NOAA and the U.S. Attorney’s Office may chose to prosecute the Senior Staff, Board of Directors, and perhaps other agency personnel for thousands of criminal violations of the ESA. All of this could have been avoided, and now so much of our coral, wildlife preserves and ecosystem in general is at risk. Given what is going on with the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico, and how that may devastate the Florida coral populations, that makes this case all the more unconscionable, since it should never have happened.
Pursuant to ESA Chapter 7, “Each federal agency shall . . . ensure that any action authorized, funded, or carried out by such agency . . . is not likely to jeopardize the continued existence of any endangered species or threatened species or result in the destruction or adverse modification of habitat of such species.” The only way the EPA can ensure this is if it takes over VIWMA.
Do you think NOAA/NMFS would submit an Amicus Brief, either jointly with or separately from the aforementioned agencies? The Center for Biological Diversity is very interested, but they don’t have the manpower to prepare the Amicus Brief. I have been communicating with Peter Galvin, Chief, International Division, telephone: 707.986.2600 email: ‘PGalvin@biologicaldiversity.org‘
In regard to the Nature Conservancy, since they have 3 project areas of recolonization of Staghorn and Elkhorn Coral around St. Croix and 1 in St. Thomas, (through a NOAA grant) they may have all the data you need to make your criminal as well as civil action successful. The contact person there is:
Kemit-Amon Lewis, Coral Conservation Manager for The Nature Conservancy at (340) 718-5575 or via email klewis@tnc.org.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely yours,
Susan K. Wolterbeek
US Attorney Notified About Continuing, Illegal Dumping of Raw Sewage
Although We Wrote to the US Attorney About Contempt of Court Orders, We Heard Nothing Further
Response email from the US Attorney
From: Hewlett, Joycelyn (USAVI) [mailto:Joycelyn.Hewlett@usdoj.gov]
Sent: Thursday, April 29, 2010 12:45 PM
To: Susan Wolterbeek
Cc: Enck.Judith@epamail.epa.gov; miyoko sakashita; Frankel, Donald (ENRD)
Subject: RE: Recent dumping of 72 million gallons of raw sewage over Long Reef
Dear Ms. Wolterbeek:
Thank you for your telephone call and e-mail. I have copied Attorney Donald Frankel, the lead attorney on this case. He has been following the developments in this case and will respond accordingly.
Original Notification Letter to US Attorney, Asking Them to Enforce Court Orders and the Endangered Species Act
Joycelyn Hewlett
Civil Chief/ FLU Supervisory Attorney
United States Attorney’s Office
United States Courthouse & Federal Building
5500 Veteran’s Drive, Suite 260
St. Thomas, Virgin Islands 00802-6424
Re: Recent dumping of 72 million gallons of raw sewage over Long Reef
Dear Attorney Hewlett:
I am a stateside attorney and former NYC Assistant District Attorney, and am writing in regard to VIWMA’s dumping 72 million gallons of raw sewage over Long Reef from January 17th through mid-March, 2010. The VI Daily News reported that Federal District Court Judge Gomez directed VIWMA to do the following:
– Ensure the one working pump at Figtree station remains operational.
– Install a second working pump at Figtree by Tuesday.
– Comply with the public notification requirements as detailed in the Territorial
Pollution Discharge Elimination System permit. According to the permit, the agency must notify the public by television, radio and newspaper each day a sewage bypass occurs.
– Ensure that St. Croix has two operational auxiliary diesel pumps for emergencies. The first must be obtained by Wednesday and the second by March 26.
– Certify that the Cancryn pump station on St. Thomas has a six-inch and a four-inch auxiliary diesel pump in working order as backup for the 10-inch pump currently in operation.
The federal government said in Thursday’s court filing that in addition to the problems at LBJ and Figtree, the Barren Spot pump station on St. Croix and the Cancryn pump station on St. Thomas also are in danger of failing as well.
One would think that VIWMA would be very scrupulously complying with the federal court order, purchasing and installing all the replacement and backup pumps according to the judge’s schedule. Also note that VIWMA was to certify that the Cancryn Pump Station, the main station of St. Thomas, is operational, with two back-up pumps. However, according to the VI Daily News article dated Friday, April 16, 2010:
“Because of the frequent failures, Waste Management is planning to buy a number of upgraded pumps to replace the downed pumped and a backup for each station on St. Croix.” …“St. Thomas’ Cancryn pump station – the island’s main station – has been without a working pump for close to nine months, Cornwall said. A contractor is diverting flow around Cancryn to another station while cleaning takes place. The station should be back up and running by the end of April, Cornwall said.”
These statements lead one to believe that the pumps have not been purchased yet, in direct violation of the District Court Order.
I wrote to Jim Casey, Virgin Islands Coordinator of EPA Region 2 on Monday, April 26, 2010 to suggest that the EPA may want to confirm that VIWMA has complied with the March District Court Order. Then, the next day, VIWMA again allowed raw sewage to flow into our coastal waters and the Caribbean Sea. It was emphatically stated that this new release of raw sewage was a pipe issue, not the pumps, but you may want to find out whether VIWMA bought and installed the pumps as specified in the court order, or just submitted a plan to do so.
Further, the March Court Order states that Cancryn pump station “is in danger of failing”, not that it has already failed, waste is currently diverted around Cancryn, and that station has been without a working pump for 9 months. According to the Order, VIWMA had to certify in March for Cancryn that there are 4 inch and 6 inch auxiliary backup pumps in addition to a working 10 inch operational pump. Yet, VIWMA stated in April that the Cancryn pump has not been working for 9 months, so how could they possibly make such a certification?
According to NOAA, “coral reefs buffer adjacent shorelines from wave action and prevent erosion, property damage and loss of life. Reefs also protect the highly productive wetlands along the coast, as well as ports and harbors and the economies they support. Healthy reefs contribute to local economies through tourism. Diving tours, fishing trips, hotels, restaurants, and other businesses based near reef systems provide millions of jobs and contribute billions of dollars all over the world. Recent studies show that millions of people visit coral reefs in the Florida Keys every year. These reefs alone are estimated to have an asset value of $7.6 billion (Johns et al., 2001).”
You may be aware of the enormous oil spill which is near Florida and appears to be headed for the Florida Keys, where NOAA and Coral experts have been protecting and recolonizing coral. If Florida’s coral dies from this massive oil spill, we must be all the more protective of the coral in the USVI.
There remains only 3 percent left of the coral of 30 years ago. Staghorn and Elkhorn Coral are currently protected by the Endangered Species Act, and the Center for Biological Diversity has filed a formal petition to protect 83 more imperiled coral species, seven of which are local to the U.S. Virgin Islands. These corals already face a growing threat of extinction due to rising ocean temperatures caused by global warming, and the related threat of ocean acidification. Now 72 million gallons of raw sewage has been dumped onto the reefs, then more on Tuesday. Steps must be taken to ensure there will be no more dumping, or the reefs will be gone.
Sincerely yours,
Susan K. Wolterbeek
cc: Judith Enck, EPA Administrator, Region 2
Miyoko Sakashita, Oceans Director, Center for Biological Diversity
Protection Sought for 83 Coral Species
For Immediate Release, October 20, 2009
Contact: Miyoko Sakashita, (415) 436-9682 x 308, miyoko@biologicaldiversity.org
Protection Sought for 83 Coral Species as Coral Heads for Worldwide Extinction
SAN FRANCISCO— The Center for Biological Diversity today filed a formal petition seeking to protect 83 imperiled coral species under the Endangered Species Act. These corals, all of which occur in U.S. waters ranging from Florida and Hawaii to U.S. territories in the Caribbean and Pacific, face a growing threat of extinction due to rising ocean temperatures caused by global warming, and the related threat of ocean acidification.
Scientists have warned that coral reefs are likely to be the first worldwide ecosystem to collapse due to global warming; all the world’s reefs could be destroyed by 2050.
“Coral reefs are the world’s most endangered ecosystems and provide an early warning of impacts to come from our thirst for fossil fuels,” said Miyoko Sakashita oceans director of the Center for Biological Diversity. “Within a few decades, global warming and ocean acidification threaten to completely unravel magnificent coral reefs that took millions of years to build.”
Corals are among the species most imperiled by climate change. When corals are stressed by warm ocean temperatures, they experience bleaching — which means they expel the colorful algae upon which they rely for energy and growth. Many corals die or succumb to disease after bleaching. Mass bleaching events have become much more frequent and severe as ocean temperatures have risen in recent decades. Scientists predict that most of the world’s corals will be subjected to mass bleaching events at deadly frequencies within 20 years on our current emissions path.
Not only is greenhouse gas pollution causing corals to bleach and die, but it also makes it difficult for corals to grow and rebuild their colonies. Ocean acidification, caused by the ocean’s absorption of carbon dioxide, is already impairing the ability of corals to build their protective skeletons. At CO2 levels of 450 ppm, scientists predict that reef erosion will eclipse the ability of corals to grow. Moreover, ocean acidification and global warming render corals even more susceptible to other threats that have led to the present degraded state of our reefs, including destructive fishing, agriculture runoff, storms, sea-level rise, pollution, abrasion, predation, and disease.
Leading coral biologist Charles Veron warned in a recent scientific paper that at current levels of CO2 in the atmosphere (387 ppm) most of the world’s coral reefs are committed to an irreversible decline. Other scientists have warned that CO2 concentrations must be reduced to levels below 350 ppm to protect corals and avoid mass extinctions on land and sea. The CO2 reductions proposed in the climate bill now making its way through Congress are unlikely to result in an atmospheric concentration below 450 ppm, much less 350 ppm.
“The coral conservation crisis is already so severe that preventing the extinction of coral reefs and the marine life that depends upon them is an enormous undertaking. The Endangered Species Act has an important role to play in that effort,” added Sakashita. “But without rapid CO2 reductions, the fate of the world’s coral reefs will be sealed.”
In 2006, elkhorn and staghorn corals, which occur in Florida and the Caribbean, became the first, and to date only, coral species protected under the Endangered Species Act. The listing of staghorn and elkhorn corals as threatened, which also came in response to a petition from the Center for Biological Diversity, marked the first time the U.S. government acknowledged global warming as a primary threat to the survival of a species. As documented in today’s petition, many other corals are also at risk.
Protection under the Endangered Species Act would open the door to greater opportunities for coral reef conservation, as activities ranging from fishing, dumping, dredging, and offshore oil development, all of which hurt corals, would be subject to stricter regulatory scrutiny. Additionally, the Endangered Species Act would require federal agencies to ensure that that their actions do not harm the coral species, which could result in agencies approving projects with significant greenhouse gas emissions to consider and minimize such impacts on vulnerable coral species.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration must respond to the Center for Biological Diversity’s petition to list 83 species of coral within 90 days and determine whether listing is warranted for each of the coral species within one year.
For more information about the Center’s coral conservation campaign, visit: http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/campaigns/coral_conservation/index.html.
Coming this Thursday, many of the petitioned-for corals will also be featured in 350 Reasons We Need to Get to 350 – the Center for Biological Diversity’s photo installation of 350 species we may lose to global warming if we don’t act soon.
The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with 240,000 members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places.
Recent dumping of 72 million gallons of raw sewage over Long Reef
Joycelyn Hewlett
Civil Chief/ FLU Supervisory Attorney
United States Attorney’s Office
United States Courthouse & Federal Building
5500 Veteran’s Drive, Suite 260
St. Thomas, Virgin Islands 00802-6424
Re: Recent dumping of 72 million gallons of raw sewage over Long Reef
Dear Attorney Hewlett:
I am a stateside attorney and former NYC Assistant District Attorney, and am writing in regard to VIWMA’s dumping 72 million gallons of raw sewage over Long Reef from January 17th through mid-March, 2010. The VI Daily News reported that Federal District Court Judge Gomez directed VIWMA to do the following:
– Ensure the one working pump at Figtree station remains operational.
– Install a second working pump at Figtree by Tuesday.
– Comply with the public notification requirements as detailed in the Territorial Pollution Discharge Elimination System permit. According to the permit, the agency must notify the public by television, radio and newspaper each day a sewage bypass occurs.
– Ensure that St. Croix has two operational auxiliary diesel pumps for emergencies. The first must be obtained by Wednesday and the second by March 26.
– Certify that the Cancryn pump station on St. Thomas has a six-inch and a four-inch auxiliary diesel pump in working order as backup for the 10-inch pump currently in operation.
The federal government said in Thursday’s court filing that in addition to the problems at LBJ and Figtree, the Barren Spot pump station on St. Croix and the Cancryn pump station on St. Thomas also are in danger of failing as well.
One would think that VIWMA would be very scrupulously complying with the federal court order, purchasing and installing all the replacement and backup pumps according to the judge’s schedule. Also note that VIWMA was to certify that the Cancryn Pump Station, the main station of St. Thomas, is operational, with two back-up pumps. However, according to the VI Daily News article dated Friday, April 16, 2010:
“Because of the frequent failures, Waste Management is planning to buy a number of upgraded pumps to replace the downed pumped and a backup for each station on St. Croix.” …“St. Thomas’ Cancryn pump station – the island’s main station – Â has been without a working pump for close to nine months, Cornwall said. A contractor is diverting flow around Cancryn to another station while cleaning takes place. The station should be back up and running by the end of April, Cornwall said.”
These statements lead one to believe that the pumps have not been purchased yet, in direct violation of the District Court Order.
I wrote to Jim Casey, Virgin Islands Coordinator of EPA Region 2 on Monday, April 26, 2010 to suggest that the EPA may want to confirm that VIWMA has complied with the March District Court Order. Then, the next day, VIWMA again allowed raw sewage to flow into our coastal waters and the Caribbean Sea. It was emphatically stated that this new release of raw sewage was a pipe issue, not the pumps, but you may want to find out whether VIWMA bought and installed the pumps as specified in the court order, or just submitted a plan to do so.
Further, the March Court Order states that Cancryn pump station “is in danger of failing”, not that it has already failed, waste is currently diverted around Cancryn, and that station has been without a working pump for 9 months. According to the Order, VIWMA had to certify in March for Cancryn that there are 4 inch and 6 inch auxiliary backup pumps in addition to a working 10 inch operational pump. Yet, VIWMA stated in April that the Cancryn pump has not been working for 9 months, so how could they possibly make such a certification?
According to NOAA, “coral reefs buffer adjacent shorelines from wave action and prevent erosion, property damage and loss of life. Reefs also protect the highly productive wetlands along the coast, as well as ports and harbors and the economies they support. Healthy reefs contribute to local economies through tourism. Diving tours, fishing trips, hotels, restaurants, and other businesses based near reef systems provide millions of jobs and contribute billions of dollars all over the world. Recent studies show that millions of people visit coral reefs in the Florida Keys every year. These reefs alone are estimated to have an asset value of $7.6 billion (Johns et al., 2001).”
You may be aware of the enormous oil spill which is near Florida and appears to be headed for the Florida Keys, where NOAA and Coral experts have been protecting and recolonizing coral. If Florida’s coral dies from this massive oil spill, we must be all the more protective of the coral in the USVI.
There remains only 3 percent left of the coral of 30 years ago. Staghorn and Elkhorn Coral are currently protected by the Endangered Species Act, and the Center for Biological Diversity has filed a formal petition to protect 83 more imperiled coral species, seven of which are local to the U.S. Virgin Islands. These corals already face a growing threat of extinction due to rising ocean temperatures caused by global warming, and the related threat of ocean acidification. Now 72 million gallons of raw sewage has been dumped onto the reefs, then more on Tuesday. Steps must be taken to ensure there will be no more dumping, or the reefs will be gone.
Sincerely yours,
Susan K. Wolterbeek
cc: Judith Enck, EPA Administrator, Region 2
Miyoko Sakashita, Oceans Director, Center for Biological Diversity