Sargassum Emergency Focuses on Health Protections
This summer’s influx of sargassum, which has threatened water and energy production on St. Croix, has provoked the government to consider how it can best protect the people who have to deal with its clean-up and disposal.
2022-08-16 13:09:19 - VI News Staff
In a Labor Department webinar Monday, officials from various departments and agencies discussed the need for training and for personal protection equipment for workers.
Giant floating mats of the seaweed have been washing up on V.I. shores throughout the territory, rotting on its beaches, and releasing noxious odors and toxic fumes every summer since 2011 (with the exception of 2013).
For many years the problem was felt most acutely by hotels that had to foot the bill for sargassum removal and by the Bovoni and Anguilla landfills that had to make room for it.
When currents shifted this year’s influx towards the Water and Power Authority’s Estate Richmond plant on St. Croix, Gov. Albert Bryan Jr. declared a state of emergency, and the federal government has been assisting in removing sargassum before it can clog intakes and disrupt desalinated water production.
Dean Andrews, the director of Labor’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health, said it was the current situation with sargassum and the state of emergency that prompted the department to hold the webinar. Dubbed “Operating Safely in a Sargassum Environment,” the hour-long session is part of this week’s OSHA events marking national “Safe and Sound Week.”
The main concern with decomposing seaweed is the potential hazard from the hydrogen sulfide gas (H2S) and the ammonia (NH3) that it releases, Andrews said.