The Tribune

By YOURI KEMP

Tribune Business Reporter

ykemp@tribunemedia.net

The Abaco Chamber of Commerce president yesterday voiced concern over potential environmental damage from a landfill said to be “burning out of control”.

Daphne Degregory-Miaoulis told Tribune Business that the fall-out from failing to properly maintain the Snake Cay landfill ranks alongside “escalating” crime and shantytowns as the greatest problems facing Abaco post-Dorian.

“Friday morning, I received photographs from a concerned citizen who went to the dump and found it burning out of control,” she said. “The Prime Minister has been running around the world talking about climate change and all of these things; about raising carbon credits, and we know that he’s now got a big push towards solar, which is very encouraging and it’s about time.

“But, still, there are other areas that can be addressed more aggressively. Like the dump not burning all night. Things like educating the community about not contaminating the environment with battery acids and things of that sort.”

Comparing parts of the Snake Cay landfill to “huge automobile graveyards”, which are visible from the highway, Mrs Degregory-Miaoulis called on the Government to manage revenues generated from its environmental levy in a more efficient way to ensure services are being rendered properly to residents of Abaco.

“I don’t see these automobiles being dealt with. They may be dealt with somewhere, but not here,” she lamented. “I don’t see any management of the bush mechanic work space. Then there is the issue of actually burning the dump, which is toxic to the environment especially for people with asthma and breathing issues.”

“My major concern is the health of our citizenry. We inhale the toxins; the burning goes into the atmosphere. It’s not like it disappears. The toxins are seeped into the water table and everything’s being burned that gets to the dump if it’s car tires, if it’s household debris, if it’s toxic stuff. Nobody’s sorting it out to say, well, this is carcinogenic.”

The Snake Cay landfill is different from the facility created in Hurricane Dorian’s aftermath to handle storm debris. That is still “sitting there” and acts as a “breeding ground for rodents and raccoons” because of the amount of garbage.

Mrs Degregory-Miaoulis said: “These things affect the water table, and one other concern that I have is that the drainage system in Marsh Harbour has never been cleared post-Dorian and there is no equipment available on this island to clear it.

“The volunteer Fire Department used to try to keep the drains flowing through the major roadways, but they can’t do anything about it now because it’s beyond their capacity.” Much of the debris carried by the flooding from Hurricane Dorian was sucked into Marsh Harbour’s drains, so when there is “spring tide” or any type of bad weather system, the streets can become flooded with storm residue.

This can include shingles and other construction-related material, skeletal remains and rotting wood. “When Commonwealth Bank were doing their renovations they engaged someone from a company to come and clear the drains around their bank and, according to people who were there working on site, it was so bad that you couldn’t stand in the area and you couldn’t breathe from the stench from what came out of those drains,” the Abaco Chamber president said.