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Pressure Mounts For Environmental Cleanup At Caneel Bay

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By Kurt Repanshek - September 10th, 2020
Friends group pushes for environmental remediation a Caneel Bay/NPS file

Friends of Virgin Islands National Park is pushing for environmental remediation to be done at Caneel Bay in Virgin Islands National Park/NPS file

More than three years after a consultant's report cited environmental wastes at Caneel Bay Resort that could pose a public health risk, Friends of Virgin Islands National Park wants a finalized remediation plan secured with the responsible parties before a decision is made on whether the resort's current operator gets a new lease.

The resort's fate seemingly had been settled back in 1983 when the late Laurance S. Rockefeller, who in 1956 donated thousands of acres on the island of St. John to create the national park, signed an agreement with the Interior Department to turn over 170 acres he owned there to the National Park Service in September 2023.

While the Park Service has been trying since 2014 to reach a long-term lease with CBI Acquisitions, the resort's current operator, that firm has been trying to find a way around Rockefeller's intent.

Complicating the talks were back-to-back hurricanes that slammed the national park and Caneel Bay in September 2017 and essentially demolished much of the resort's facilities. The storms led both to unfruitful attempts to have Congress legislate a 60-year extension for CBI, and to repeated efforts by Gary Engle, CBI's principal, to convince Interior officials to, essentially, tear up Rockefeller's agreement and give him a decades-long renewal.

Neither the NPS nor CBI has been willing to discuss what, if any, talks have been conducted on a long-term lease.

Friends of Virgin Islands has opposed an extension for CBI, and wrote Interior Secretary David Bernhardt in August asking that he sever CBI's role at Caneel Bay for failure to maintain the property as directed under Rockefeller's 1983 agreement, and have the necessary environmental testing done to determine the extent of contamination on the 170 acres.

On Thursday, the nonprofit organization sent a letter to U.S. Virgin Islands Gov. Albert Bryan Jr. urging him to push for the testing.

Your help and leadership is needed immediately. On behalf of the Virgin Islands community, please reach out to U. S. Department of Interior Secretary David L. Bernhardt and Assistant Secretary for Fish, Wildlife and Parks Rob Wallace re: Caneel Bay Resort. Tell them “NO DEAL” with CBI Acquisitions, Inc. until the environmental contamination on site is fully characterized with a plan for remediation and responsible parties are held accountable.

A 2014 environmental assessment of the property raised questions of contamination from SVOCs -- semivolatile organic compounds -- often related to pesticides, and arsenic, according to documents Traveler obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request. 

"In addition, there are concerns for leachability of SVOCs, arsenic and mercury to groundwater," the consultant's report noted. The surveys also found concentrations of total petroleum hydrocarbons and diesel range organics above acceptable levels set by the Virgin Islands Department of Planning and Natural Resources.

While the assessment called for more extensive testing to determine the extent of these contaminants -- both across the ground surface and to determine depth of contamination -- records Traveler obtained indicated Engle has refused to allow a contractor for the Park Service to access the grounds to perform further testing.

A January 2017 consultant's report to the Park Service said more testing was warranted because "the release of hazardous substances at the Site pose a potential threat to public health, welfare, and the environment...A removal action comprised of delineation of soil and groundwater contamination in these areas at the Site is necessary to address potential migration of contaminated soil and groundwater off-Site; abate the potential threat to public safety; and ensure the long-term success and protectiveness of the Site."

In his letter to Gov. Bryan, Todd Sampsell, president of Friends of Virgin Islands National Park, said "(T)o date, full assessment and characterization of the contaminants on the property has not been done. No plan for remediation and protection of the residents and visitors of St. John and no plan to protect our economically and ecologically important marine resources has been completed.

"Please urge the Department of Interior and National Park Service leadership to complete this work immediately and before decisions are made as to the future development and management of Caneel Bay Resort and property. The people of St. John deserve it."

Reached Thursday afternoon by phone, Sampsell said, "The next step may need to be filing a lawsuit to stop the negotiations and give DOI and the Park Service an opportunity to say we can't move on this right now. At the very least, if we get beyond the (November) elections, we might have a different atmosphere. Frankly, we know that's why CBIA is pushing right now." 

Engle in the past has said he would walk away from Caneel Bay if Interior would pay him $70 million and hold CBI harmless for any environmental contamination on the grounds, but Interior declined the offer. Now, said Sampsell, CBI likely is worried about being held responsible for at least some of the environmental cleanup.

"They probably knew they were going to be on the hook for some of it because they were listed in the reports as still having stuff sitting there leaking," he said.

Rob Wallace, Interior's assistant secretary for Fish, Wildlife, and Parks, told the Traveler on Thursday that he had no updates regarding the future of Caneel Bay. A member of his staff said she would try to provide an update on whether the called for environmental testing was going to occur.

Traveler footnote: The three consultants' reports concerning environmental contamination at Caneel Bay, and Friends of Virgin Islands' letters to Secretary Bernhardt and Gov. Bryan, can be found here.

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Comments

Submitted by Mike Silvestrini on September 10, 2020 - 8:17pm.

WAY TO GO! KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!!


Submitted by Doug and Millie Pontious on September 12, 2020 - 10:54am.

I commend Mr Sampsell and others who have continued their efforts to have this problem solved.


Submitted by S.W. on November 30, 2020 - 12:52am.

I've camped at cinnamon bay, with a small army of hermit crabs marching past, snorkeled off the beaches accompanied by turtles, and sailed the coves around the V isles. It's magical there. I hope all parties involved get busy, see the value of conservation and clean up their act! Thanks. 


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