ARAWAKROOTS NEWs
THE VIRGIN ISLANDS EDITION
VOL. 7 NO. 6
SEPTEMBER, 2009
ST. THOMAS, US VIRGIN ISLANDS (VI DAILY NEWS- 8/18/09)- A weakened Tropical Depression Ana passed to the south of the territory, while Tropical Storm Bill, churning in the Atlantic, became the seasons first hurricane. Ana- located south of Hispaniola- had dissipated into a low-pressure trough with no closed circulation, and all tropical storm watches had been lifted.
Ana passed about 70 miles south of St. Croix. The depression did bring some showers and thunderstorms to the territory, with Doppler estimates of up to an inch of rain fell across St. Croix and up to 1 1/2 inches in both St. Thomas and St. John.
The weather caused some flight delays, although the territory's seaports and airports remained open. The weather also prompted some cruise ships to change their itineraries.
Meanwhile, Hurricane Bill was located about 850 miles east of the Lesser Antilles Islands, moving west-northwest at 17 mph with sustained winds of 100 mph.
ST. JOHN, USVI (ARAWAKROOTS NEWS- 8/30/09)- All eyes were on the NOAA map websites here on St. John, as the 2 low pressure systems that became TS Ana and Hurricane Bill first appeared one behind the other off the African coast August 14th. The original forcasts at that time had both storms heading directly our way. By the next day, it was determined that Ana would be sheared apart as the storm headed south into drier air. Bill on the other hand, would slowly move northwest, but continue to grow.
As Ana passed just to the south of St. Croix, the thunderstorms were intense from time to time on St. John on August 17th, but were short-lived and created no flooding.
Because Hurricane Bill was rather slow in taking its turn to the northwest, noone took their eye off of Hurricane Bill until the storm passed the 20N line. As Bill passed about 350 miles to the the north of St. John, the island got caught in one of the hurricane's inflows. Instead of receiving rain from one of the outflow bands, the air was basically sucked away- very still, heavy, hot and humid. Most St. Johnians said it was definitely the hottest day that summer.
Ana(center), Bill(lower right) and Claudette(upper left)
On August 24th, the tropical wave that organized into TS Danny formed just to the Northeast of Tortola, BVI. Heavy rains fell on St. John, however no winds were associated with the system as it passed north of the Virgin Islands. Over 2 inches of rain fell in parts of the hill country, however no rain fell in the southeast end of the island.
Now all eyes are on the Atlantic once again as TS Erica gets revved up. It's shaping up to be an interesting season. To follow the tropical storm season, click on our Weather Maps page, where you can choose from different NOAA maps.
ST. THOMAS, USVI (VI DAILY NEWS- 8/11/09)- The Virgin Islands government and Alpine Energy Group entered into an agreement to construct two alternative power plants- one each on St. Croix and St. Thomas- that will reduce the territory's dependence on oil, lower energy costs and solve the territory's mounting waste problem.
Colorado-based Alpine Energy Group President James Beach said the company will invest $440 million in the territory, create 600 jobs during the peak construction period and 75 permanent jobs in each district to operate the facilities upon completion. The plants will burn garbage that would otherwise enter the territory's landfills. To bolster the amount of energy produced, the plants will also burn petroleum coke- a byproduct produced at the HOVENSA oil refinery on St. Croix.
The Water And Power Authority(WAPA) signed 20-year power purchase agreements and will annually receive a minimum of 33 megawatts from the St. Thomas plant and 16 watts from the St. Croix plant. WAPA estimates that the new power plants will save the average residential consumer about $10 on their monthly bill and will save WAPA from buying 600,000 barrels of oil a year.
Similarly, the Waste Management Authority signed 20-year agreements with Alpine Energy to pay $18 million a year for Alpine to process the territory's solid waste. The agreements with Alpine will ensure that the Virgin Islands will be able to manage its solid waste stream. Waste Management is under a deadline to close the Anguilla Landfill on St. Croix by Dec. 31 and plans to close the Bovoni Landfill on St. Thomas in 5 to 7 years in order to meet federal regulations and come into compliance with orders from the EPA and District Court.
Alpine Energy is aiming to have both plants up and running by 2013.
ST. THOMAS, USVI (VI DAILY NEWS- 8/17/09)- To boost the catches of commercial and recreational fishermen, the VI Division of Fish and Wildlife is planning to deploy 50 special devices to attract fish. Fish aggregation devices (buoys) have been placed across the territory in limited numbers for the past 2 decades. The reason is because the devices are expensive and the cost of deployment high.
To save money and allow for more devices placed in the water, Fish and Wildlife decided to design its own cheaper version. Gerald Greaux, an environmental specialist at the devision, came up with 3 designs that were shown to international specialists, who told him the designs would work as fish buoys.
The first design prototype was deployed Aug. 7, off St. Thomas and St. Croix. The buoys will be placed on the waters surface and at different depths to see what works best. The design with the best results will be used to build 47 buoys- 21 for St. Croix and 26 for St. Thomas. The devices are made from recycled tires, PVC pipe and anchored with I-beams. Each is equipped with a GPS unit, a solar light and Radar reflector. The buoys grow algae and provide a hiding place for bait fish, which then attract larger fish that feed on them.
Part of the Project will be to update and maintain an existing database with data collected from the buoys. Fishermen's required reports on catches will provide information about species and abundance around the buoys. The buoys will be placed in strategic locations to attract tuna, marlin and dolphinfish. The locations of the buoys will be published once they are deployed.
ST. JOHN, USVI (STJ TRADEWINDS- 8/25/09)- When several recent large-scale developments pushed building heights on St. John to new records, residents feared towering skysrapers were just around the corner. VI Senator-at-Large Craig Barshinger is trying to ensure that never happens.
Barshinger is sponsoring a bill to restrict building heights on St. John to 3 stories. The building cap would protect the architectural feel of the island and protect the community from large-scale developments. The bill would also close loopholes in the building code which allow for some buildings, while remaining technically within the zoning limits, to have visual impacts of taller structures- the SIRENUSA development being a major case in point.
While the current bill is worded for holding only residential buildings to the 3-story height limit, it is hoped to expand the scope to include all buildings.
In a related story, it is rumored that Banco Popular has foreclosed on the SIRENUSA project and sold the property to a Puerto Rico-based developer.
ST. THOMAS, USVI (VI DAILY NEWS- 8/20/09)- The US federal government will reconsider placing 2 native Virgin Islands plants on the endangered species list after a settlement agreement was reached in a federal lawsuit regarding their status. The 2 species are agave eggersiana, an aloe-like plant native only to St. Croix, and slonum conocarpum, a bushy plant with small purple flowers found only on St. John. (Go to "Archived News" Vol.4 #3)
The Center for Biological Diversity- represented by the University of Denver Environmental Law Clinic- reached a settlement agreement with the US Fish and Wildlife Service and the Dept. of the Interior to revisit the issue. However, this agreement does not gaurantee that the plants will make it to the federally protected list.
In 1996, the VI Dept. of Planning and Natural Resources petitioned the federal government to protect the 2 plants under the Endangered Species Act. Two years later, the US Fish and Wildlife Service submitted an initial report that agreed with the local government. Although a final report was supposed to be submitted within 9 months, six years went by without any action by the feds.
In 2004, the Center for Biological Diversity picked up the territory's cause and took the federal government to court. When the final finding was submitted, US Fish and Wildlife reversed its initial position and found the petition to protect the plants unwarranted. The CBD filed another lawsuit, stating that the Fish and Wildlife Service ignored its own experts and other evidence that proved the vulnerability of the plants.
In this most recent settlement, the government agreed to revisit its 1996 rejection. The new agreement lays out a timeline for the government to produce new findings. If the plants are listed as endangered species, the government would create a recovery plan to reintroduce the plant into the wild and protect the plant's critical habitat.
WASHINGTON D.C. (AP- 8/21/09)- July was the hottest month for the world's oceans in almost 130 years of record-keeping. The average temperature world-wide was 62.6 degrees, according to the National Climatic Data Center. The previous record was set in July 1998 during a powerful El Nino in the Pacific.
Meteorologists said there is a combination of forces at work: a natural El Nino just getting started on top of worsening man-made global warming and a dash of random weather variations. Already the resulting ocean heat is harming coral reefs. In the summer of 2005, an increase in water temperatures led to a massive coral die-off, both here in the Virgin Islands and globally.
The Gulf of Mexico has temperatures hovering around 90 degrees. Most of the water in the Northern Hemisphere has been much warmer than normal. The Mediterranean is about 3 degrees warmer than normal and higher temperatures rule in the Pacific and Indian Oceans.
The phenomenon is most noticeable near the Arctic, where water temperatures are as much as 10 degrees above average.
And in the "You must be joking" Dept.:
ST. CROIX, USVI (VI DAILY NEWS- 8/19/09)- Police on St. Croix confiscated an undisclosed number of marijuana plants after a police chase in which passengers in the fleeing vehicle started flinging the plants along the roadway.
The Police Dept. reports that around 10:30 PM, an officer from the traffic division was on patrol on Queen Mary Highway when a large passenger van cut him off. The officer turned on his lights and siren and the van pulled over. At that time the officer noticed the windows were covered with black trash bags. When the officer ordered everyone out, the van sped off. A chase ensued, with other officers providing support.
An off-duty officer heard the call and went out to set up spike strips along the path of the chase. As the chase wound around the island, the traffic officer noticed that passengers in the van were tossing out marijuana plants and fertilizer.
When the chase reached the spot where the spike strips were deployed, 3 of the vans tires were deflated. The van turned onto a dirt road, where it got ahead of the pursuing officers, stopped and the occupants fled into the bush.
Officers found that the van contained marijuana plants ranging from one to six feet high, and were likely being transported from an indoor cultivation site. Noone was apprehended in connection with the chase. However, police have a number of leads.
SPORTS::
BERLIN, GERMANY (AP- 8/17-24/09)- Looking around and seeing no one close in the biggest race of the year, Jamaica's Usain Bolt proved again he races in a world all his own. The Olympic champion won a huge matchup against Tyson Gay in the 100M at the world championships, beating his chest after he crossed the line and watched the clock stop at 9.58 seconds.
Running full-out in ideal conditions and against the toughest competition possible, Bolt blew away his own world record by .11 seconds and made Gay seem slow despite setting a U.S. record of 9.71 seconds, the 3rd fastest time in history. It was the biggest increase in the world record since electronic time was introduced. Asafa Powell of Jamaica took bronze in 9.84.
The record time was hard to believe even with Bolt's knack of doing the unbelievable. He grabbed a flag, hugged Powell and wrapped themselves in the Jamaican flag.
In the women's 100M, the Jamaican and American women got their own sprint rivalry going. Kerron Stewart ran 10.92 for the best time, leading a Jamaican team effort which placed 3 of their runners in the top four. Carmelita Jeter of the U.S. was the only one able to split the trio, running 10.94 for silver.
Tabarie Henry became the first USVI sprinter to win a race at the World Campionships by winning his qualifying heat in 45.14 seconds, the 2nd fastest time of the day in the men's 400M and advanced to the semi-finals.
Meanwhile, in women's 400 competition, Sanya Richards of the U.S. ran with confidence, overwhelming the field and taking the gold in 49 seconds. She held off Jamaica's Shericka Williams for the win.
On the third day of competition, USVI's Tabarie Henry placed 2nd in his heat to advance to the finals of the 400M. The St. Thomian crossed the finish line with a time of 44.97, behind Bahamian Chris Brown's 44.95. St.Croix's Laverne Jones-Ferrette came 1/10 second from joining Henry for medal contention when she failed to qualify for the final in the women's 200M.
Bolt winning the 200M
On Day 4, Usain Bolt extended his stunning domination in the sprints, adding the 200M gold to his tally with another world record. Gritting his teeth and pointing to the clock as soon as the record flashed, Bolt is now 5-for-5 in major sprint events going back to the Beijing Olympics, each time with a world record. His time of 19.19 slashed .11 seconds off the mark he set last year. Alonso Edward of Panama took silver- amassive .62 behind- and Wallace Spearmon of the U.S. took bronze.
EDITOR'S NOTE:
Click here: Guest Editorial to read a guest editorial that appeared in the VI Daily News on 8/13/09 concerning the "alternative" power plants being built on St. Thomas and St. Croix. It gives a counterpoint to the so-called "green" technology being proposed for the power plants.
(photo courtesy of Christian Simescu/VI Daily News)
