No more smoke from Pockwood Pond landfill; DWM Director credits several initiatives
The territory has long been plagued by fires at the Pockwood Pond dumpsite, with the smoke affecting residents in the West End areas and as far as St John in the United States Virgin Islands (USVI).
USVI media said Pockwood Pond smoke caused residents “misery”
St John residents have complained of the smoke that has caused them inconvenience. One USVI news site, St Thomas Source, described the smoke coming from the Pockwood Pond dumpsite as bringing “misery” to St John residents in 2020.
In 2019, the issue became so grave that the Environmental Health Department distributed 400 air filter masks to those affected by the smoke. With the incinerator at the dumpsite out of commission, the fires would most times be caused by spontaneous combustion.
Mr Solomon was appointed Director of Waste Management in July 2023.
Speaking exclusively with Virgin Islands News Online (VINO) today, March 26, 2025, Mr Solomon said that around July 2023, the department rolled out its fire mitigation and response protocols.
That September, the DWM rolled out its standard guidelines for employees and contractors working at the dumpsites.
The redesigning of the dumpsite and the changing of some contractors began in early 2024, between January and February, he told our news centre.
Successful initiatives implemented
“A number of initiatives were employed to achieve this, such as 1. Improving employee productivity and morale and setting targets; 2. Establishing and daily monitoring of compliance with standard operating guidelines for both staff and contractors; 3. Ensuring experience and reliable contractors are chosen to operate at the site; 4. Redesigning the site; 5. Randomly screening the garbage for flammable and chemical materials; 6. Diverting and exporting waste oil [and] 7. Reducing the downtime of our fleet of equipment and requesting contractors do the same,” Mr Solomon explained.
The Department of Waste Management also has other projects to ensure a sustainable approach to treating waste without the incinerator.
Grant & gov’t funding received- Mr Solomon
These include the successful development and submission of a project that received international grant funding of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars to build waste management climate resilience capacity in the Virgin Islands.
“This project will also look at our approach to managing the entire value chain of waste given extreme heat and [the] potential of earthquakes and hurricanes,” Mr Solomon revealed.
The department also received capital funding from the government to procure expert services to assist in further redesigning the Pockwood Pond dumpsite.
This redesign would allow for at least 3 -5 years of safe operations,” Mr Solomon stated.
While the incinerator is still out of commission, a company based in the United States has been contracted to comprehensively assess the state of the incinerator and outline a roadmap.
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20 Responses to “No more smoke from Pockwood Pond landfill; DWM Director credits several initiatives”
He will soon ensure that another cost is added to the consumer as well as the business owners. The one that ensures that everyone has a plastic bin at their home to throw out trash.
He planned to roll this out in early 2025. Yes, because we all live in single homes, and not 3 story apartment buildings. Because picking up trash in single bins every other day, will mean less trash... No... It means larger bags.
He keeps saying things are working down the islands... He has no clue about the BVI.
GET A LARGE UNDERGROUND INCINERATOR. OUR CARBON FOOTPRINT IS ONLY A DROP IN THE GLOBAL BUCKET. TRASH IS NOT MEANT TO BE BURIED IN MOTHER NATURE....!