VIWMA Interim Executive Director Griffith’s PSC Speech Overview
February 13, 2025
VIWMA Interim Executive Director Griffith’s PSC Speech Overview
The Virgin Islands Waste Management Authority’s (the Authority) Interim Executive Director and Chief Financial Officer, Daryl Griffith, gave an update to the Public Services Commission (PSC) regarding the Authority’s Wastewater Optimization Plan and the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Prudent Replacement Plan for the territory.
Griffith said that the Authority provides wastewater services to approximately 60% of the Virgin Islands residents, including collection, pumping, treatment, and disposal. More than 4.5 million gallons of wastewater daily rushes through pipes, heading toward the wastewater treatment plants on St. Croix, St. Thomas, and St. John.
The wastewater infrastructure in the territory is aged and failing, presenting significant challenges for the Authority. On St. Croix, there are 13 small pump stations and two large pump stations, LBJ and Figtree. On St. Thomas, there are 11 pump stations, including Subbase and Cancryn, and four pump stations on St. John. The system is becoming increasingly expensive and difficult to operate and maintain daily. Recently, problems have multiplied due to Tropical Storm Ernesto. The problems are caused by the stormwater drainage system being connected to the wastewater system. The system is bombarded with excessive grease, rags, and other small debris on a typical day, but no pump in the world is designed to manage rocks, especially the larger 8-inch or more rocks we receive after severe flooding. The Authority lost six pump stations days after the storm, 3 of which are critical stations. On St. Croix, two pumps were lost just hours apart on the same day.
In 2024, the Authority launched The Wastewater Optimization Program. The program is a practical roadmap for achieving reliability, sustainability, and optimization of wastewater infrastructure. Fortunately for the Territory, FEMA assessed the Territory’s sewage system after the 2017 hurricanes and concluded that the entire system had to be replaced prudently.
Starting with St. Croix, on October 25, 2024, FEMA obligated a project worksheet with a net cost of $1,009,946.362.43. FEMA will pay 98% of this cost, which is $989,747,435.18, and the Territory is responsible for the remaining 2%, which is $20.2 million.
VIWMA is currently advertising the procurement of all sewage pumps in St. Croix. These bids are due to the Authority by the end of February 2025. The Authority also has an RFP out through the Office of Disaster Recovery (ODR) called Bundle 4 in collaboration with WAPA, DPW, and ODR. This RFP is for the design and build services for the underground pipes that cover North Central St. Croix. It comprises over 171,000 linear feet of sewer lines ranging from 4 to 24 inches in diameter, approximately 710 manholes, 1800 service laterals, and 25,000 linear feet of sewer force main.
On January 17, 2025, FEMA obligated a Project Worksheet for St. Thomas with a net cost of $2,188,655,954.66. FEMA will pay 98% of this cost, which is $2,144,882,835.57, and the Territory is responsible for the remaining 2%, which is $43.7 million. The Authority has started creating the Scope of Work for the RFP to purchase the pumps for the St. Thomas Pump Stations and the Scope for the repair and rebuild of the pump stations. St. John has also been approved for FEMA Wastewater funds. FEMA obligated a Project Worksheet on January 17, 2025, for a net cost of $83,589,179.26 with a Federal Share of 98%, which is $81,917,395.68 that FEMA will pay, and the Territory is responsible for the remaining 2%, which is $1.6 million.
The Authority has aggressively begun procuring the necessary equipment and services for these undertakings. It will require enormous amounts of planning, engineering, and construction with many moving parts along with the much-needed funds to build back better so that in the years to come, the people of the Virgin Islands will see the promise of real change.
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