While at work yesterday, one of my patients came in talking about how the traffic had been horrible and they had heard on the radio that there was a fire in the landfill. We tuned our radio to a local talk radio channel to learn that something in the Bovoni Landfill (on the East end of the island, I live on the North end) had exploded and caught on fire. From the looks of this posting on Google Earth I found, this was bound to happen... "The Bovoni Landfill comprises approximately 34 acres on a southeast peninsula of St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. This active landfill has a history of accepting municipal, industrial, and medical wastes and debris from construction activities and hurricanes. An underground fire at the landfill emits combustion products through fissures in the landfill surface. The underground fire also breaks through the surface occasionally and covers the island with black smoke. In April 1996, a community group petitioned the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) to evaluate the public health impact of the Bovoni Landfill. The primary concern was the emission of potentially harmful fumes during above-ground fire events. Based on a review of available data, ATSDR has concluded that the Bovoni Landfill site constitutes a public health hazard."
No worries, only 4 people went to the hospital, and all were released with minor injuries. It was interesting walking out onto the balcony at work and seeing the thick, black smoke coming over the mountain. Thankfully, the wind blew most of the smoke off island, so I didn't have to worry too much about inhaling dangerous fumes (plus, I was inside mostly during this time). The picture above is the one seen in the St. Thomas Source online newspaper.
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