Health Ministry: Beaches Are Safe For Swimming

March 31, 2014

Following the issuing of an advisory by the U.S. Consulate, the Ministry of Health & Environment said they wish to “strongly reassure residents and visitors that our beaches are safe for swimming and recreational use.”

Earlier today [Mar 31] the U.S. Consulate in Bermuda issued a “Security Message” entitled “Contaminated Beaches” citing the “ongoing dumping of raw sewage off Bermuda’s south coast.”

The advisory from the U.S. Consulate added that “In 2013, as many as five of the beaches were described as ‘unfit for recreational use’ on different occasions based on water samples.”

A statement from the Ministry said, “Environmental Health closely monitors Bermuda’s beaches and takes water samples for bathing water quality twice each week at major bathing beaches and in the vicinity of the Hungry Bay sewage outfall at Hungry Bay and Grape Bay. The results of these samples continue to meet the US standards for acceptable bathing water quality.

“Measures have been put in place and other measures will continue to be investigated to ensure that our water remains fit for recreational use.”

beach bermuda generic

Minister of Health and Environment Trevor Moniz said: “Studies carried out last spring by the Department of Health along with BIOS [University of Laval mobile Atlantis Lab] speak to specific contamination events on a limited part of the South Shore that are short in duration, self resolving, limited in scope and driven by very specific weather circumstances [strong SSE winds and waves].

“In addition, research has demonstrated that once these circumstances change the water quality completely corrects itself within hours. The Department of Health has set up an automatic weather notification system whereby they will receive an advisory when the particular wind and wave conditions that can put certain beaches at risk come together.”

The statement from the Ministry added: “While we understand the US Consulate desires to protect its citizens we have to reiterate that bathing in Bermuda’s waters does not pose a health issue”.

The full statement from the Ministry of Health and Environment is below:

Following the issuing of a “Security Message” for U.S. Citizens by the U.S. Consulate today entitled “Contaminated Beaches,” the Ministry of Health and Environment wishes to strongly reassure residents and visitors that our beaches are safe for swimming and recreational use.

A Burden of Illness Study was conducted in 2011/12 with the aim of better understanding the cause of food and water borne infections which case diarrhea, otherwise known as gastroenteritis or ‘G.E’. The study ultimately found that people were not at risk of G.E. from swimming.

Environmental Health closely monitors Bermuda’s beaches and takes water samples for bathing water quality twice each week at major bathing beaches and in the vicinity of the Hungry Bay sewage outfall at Hungry Bay and Grape Bay. The results of these samples continue to meet the US standards for acceptable bathing water quality.

Measures have been put in place and other measures will continue to be investigated to ensure that our water remains fit for recreational use.

‘Greaseballs’ were last reported washed ashore in July (one incident) and before that in April and May when the island was experiencing a spate of Easterly winds and swells that brought grease onshore from the sewage outfall on at least two occasions. Greaseballs manifested as small (marble sized) balls of grey grease mixed with sand deposited at the high tide mark on Paget beaches. The Bermuda Government will notify the public if there is another situation of this nature in the future.

Small-scale specific microbiology studies with research partners at the time of the events last April were added to the regular monitoring by the DOH of the sea bright outflow and adjacent beaches. These studies have particularly enhanced our understanding of the movements and character of sewage from the discharge and the very specific conditions that lead to these rare events (which resolved themselves very quickly).

The Minister of Health and Environment the Hon. Trevor Moniz JP MP said: “Studies carried out last spring by the Department of Health along with BIOS (University of Laval mobile Atlantis Lab) speak to specific contamination events on a limited part of the South Shore that are short in duration, self resolving, limited in scope and driven by very specific weather circumstances (strong SSE winds and waves).

“In addition, research has demonstrated that once these circumstances change the water quality completely corrects itself within hours. The Department of Health has set up an automatic weather notification system whereby they will receive an advisory when the particular wind and wave conditions that can put certain beaches at risk come together.”

Environmental Health and the Corporation of Hamilton have met with restaurants and been engaged in a survey of grease traps at source. They have implemented an initiative which has both mechanical upgrades of grease traps and behaviour change components for the kitchens.

Long term options for extending the outfall and for improved sewage treatment are being discussed.

Items currently underway include the following:

  • 1. Improvement of sewage waste handling at Tynes Bay Septage Facility – investment in new plant is being made;
  • 2. Improved grease collection from City restaurants – CoH is working with restaurants;
  • 3. Sewage treatment at KEMH will come online in 2014;
  • 4. Twice weekly monitoring of bathing water quality is underway by DoH.

The next step is to seek approval for a feasibility study for infrastructure improvements – that is, evaluating technology that was still in its early development (namely horizontal drilling) the last time that this was studied.

The Department of Environmental Protection is monitoring the progress of the KEMH waste water treatment plant. This latter plant will effectively dilute the 500,000 imperial gallons per day from Hamilton with 100,000 IGPD of highly treated waste water if added to the outfall or will reduce the volume received at the outfall by 16%.

The BLDC outfall about 1 km off Clearwater is currently discharging effluent treated to a primary level (i.e. septic tank) but is in the process of being upgraded to a Zenon tertiary plant. This is due to complete later this year.

The situation has, however, greatly improved since the 1970′s/80′s when there were many other outfalls in Bermuda that have now all been eliminated or incorporated. Those would have been Elbow Beach , Sonesta Beach, Dockyard, Tynes Bay, the bases etc, and many smaller individual properties that now treat in-house and don’t pump out to sea.

Dockyard is a fully functional plant that treats very effectively and delivers treated effluent to a bore hole. It will soon be incorporating BOAZ island sewage.

While we understand the US Consulate desires to protect its citizens we have to reiterate that bathing in Bermuda’s waters does not pose a health issue.

Who commissioned the study and why?
There was no formal study commissioned as such. This spring the Department of Health along with BIOS (University of Laval mobile Atlantis Lab) conducted some intensive water sampling of the South Shore beaches, following the appearance of “greaseballs” on some of the beaches. Weekly seawater sampling is routinely performed by the Department of Health at bathing beaches and other inshore sampling sights around Bermuda. The data suggests that water quality was degraded last April in the vicinity of Hungry Bay because tides, wind and swell combined to interrupt the otherwise satisfactory dilution at the outfall. This pollution event has not recurred since then in the wake of extensive sampling.

What do these results mean?
The BIOS results show elevated levels of e coli and enteroccoci in seawater samples during one week of sustained easterly wind and swell. However, as these events happened at peak times when beaches are crowded it was hard to tell whether this was due to the sewage outfall or to bather load. Additionally, the Department of Health samples did not show the same magnitude of levels even when taken concurrently. Work was taken to harmonize the sampling and analysis of the teams. Even though there was some uncertainty over the level of the initial results at the time, the conclusion drawn was that in Easterly winds and swell that bathing water in the vicinity of the sewage outfall near Hungry Bay and Grape Bay could be degraded. As a result of these findings the Department of Health had temporarily stepped up its water sampling to twice weekly and did not find the initial BIOS results to be repeatable. There was another incident of ‘greaseballs’ again in late May but water sampling taken within 24 hours of the event did not reveal any degradation of the bathing water quality.

Since then meetings have been held between stakeholders on various technical aspects of the collection and disposal of sewage and grease in Bermuda.

What previous water quality studies have been conducted and why was nobody aware of this before?
It is important to note that a Burden of Illness Study was conducted in 2011/12 with the aim of better understanding the cause of food and water borne infections which case diarrhea, otherwise known as gastroenteritis or ‘G.E’. The BOI study was carried out by representatives from the Caribbean Epidemiology Center (CAREC) and the Department of Health and was made up of two components – a telephone survey and also a National Laboratory Survey. The study ultimately found that people were not at risk of G.E. from swimming.

What is being done, during these specific weather conditions, to warn residents and tourists of the potential dangers?
The Department of Health will have greaseballs safely removed from the shoreline as soon as they are reported. If members of the public spot greaseballs we ask that they contact Environmental Health at: 278.5333

Additional Info:
The Department of Health follows the US EPA 2012 Recreational Water Quality Criteria for Marine Water, which are based on extensive scientific studies and projects. These recommend that culturable enterococci for marine bathing waters do not exceed a geometric mean of 35 colony forming units (cfu) per 100milliltres of water over a 30 day period. Also, a single value of 130 cfu enterococci /100ml should not be exceeded by more than 10% of the samples taken at that particular location. Enterococci are bacteria that are indicators of faecal pollution. The geometric mean is used because the distribution of faecal indicator bacteria (eg enterococci) in water is highly variable. The higher single value of 130cfu/100ml will take into account any occasional spikes in the water quality, allowing for these to be included in the water quality assessment. When these criteria are applied to the sampling results of the Department of Health at the major bathing beaches, including Hungry Bay and Grape Bay, the bathing waters have been of acceptable quality.

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Comments (71)

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  1. Family Man says:

    In the meantime, will you please publicly post the results of your twice weekly test results as soon as they are available.

    • Nyet says:

      No, sir.

    • jt says:

      To nip this they need to do daily testing and publicise the results. A simple chart showing the unsafe number(s) – the date and location. If the Ministry is correct – end of problem and the U.S. Consulate will have to retract. If not they’re not correct – fix the problem.

  2. nuffin but the truth says:

    and just who do you think the Public are going to listen too…the US or Bermuda.

    • marge says:

      hey you lot, how close is grape bay to elbow beach…. I will listen to the US…rather than our so called health minister…
      I will never go swiimming in this s***/

      • concerned says:

        Its literally the next beach over.

      • el says:

        the U.S who has filthy dirty nasty water compared to the pristine beaches and clear blue fresh water currents running through the islands? Really!!I would never trust reports out of U.S. they are scaremongers and are always trying to terrorise everyone with their opinions. Until there is a local report on all news stations regarding any possible danger i remain unaffected. It is unfair to put out such reports without factual evidence of an injury or death.. you gotta be kidding me that you trust a country who continues to manipulate the minds of the masses with propaganda, because they control media.

        • abc says:

          my piss is sometimes clear….doesnt mean its clean!

          • el says:

            actually if your piss is clear than you are clear! piss is a purer and more traditional way of determining ones health,.. and by the way i need more facts about who what where when hoe and why, also what exact areas because that is a huge ocean out there and we get regular current flows , if feces is still around since the study in 2012 than we should have known about it locally firs, we do utilize the beaches all year round and as soon as we do see something or notice something we do bring it to public attention so it does need to be clarified and yes someone has to be sick and/or dying for it to be extreme…

        • Redo says:

          So you’re ok knowing that you are most likely swimming amongst sh-t? My toilet bowl is open for public swimming in that case. See you soon. Be sure to bring the kiddos.

        • sage says:

          Someone has to be injured or die first? Raw untreated sewage pumped daily, near shore by the millions of gallons (we need more people?) and cruise ships will soon be adding to this when they flush within 3 miles of us, and you’re ok with it until the media says you can change your mind?

  3. Doug says:

    hmmmmm, two rather different stories

  4. Being frank says:

    Too be honest, I would rather believe the US consulate rather than the country that’s just wanting to defend there tourism industry.

    Why would the US consulate have said what they said if the waters weren’t contaminated? And I don’t want to hear any crap about “oh the us is out to get us” type of stuff. We all know that the people who say those things will turn around and buy a ticket to enjoy what the US offers.

    • WhistleBlower says:

      The SAME reason they compile a list of BERMUDIANS who go to court for drug offenses then put them on their STOP LIST!! No matter what amount!!! Because they are bullies of the rest of the WORLD and believe that every country should adhere to their VOICE! I say to the GOVERNMENT of BERMUDA do the test as often as possible and then FLOOD their SOCIAL media with this news (as their MAINSTREAM media is a joke)!!!!

      The U.S. are BULLIES!!!!!!

  5. Michael says:

    Needles have been washing up for years on Grape Bay. I saw them every other year when I was young.Please direct your attention to the boats that tie up to the buoy that marks the end of the sewage line. Those fish cant be too healthy to eat as nothing good comes out the end of that pipe.

    Maybe a large sewage storage tank can be made and the treated waste can be pumped out when the weather conditions.

  6. SouthDevonshire says:

    @TrevorMoniz ya saying just anything bie! I still ain’t going swimming! Lol!

    • Eye of Horus says:

      Bet he wouldn’t go swimming in a pool with one dookie log in it but say’s it’s safe to swim next to the out-fall of a ton of dookie logs.

      In the places in the world where government is really concerned about their residence’s & visitor’s health they test swimming areas daily & put up notices on the days conditions are unsafe.

      “specific contamination events on a limited part of the South Shore that are short in duration, self resolving, limited in scope and driven by very specific weather circumstances [strong SSE winds and waves].”

      Do they not know that there are viruses in some human fecal matter that can infect ocean life? I don’t fish off the south shore anymore because of tongue eating louse I’ve found in those fish. Tongue eating louse are a sign of a poor immune system in fish.

      • el says:

        if you had the eye of horus you would not be worried about disease nor would you fear an unsubstantiated report, ..horus is the Sun on the horizon, by the way…

  7. What the! says:

    OBA Administration will say anything to prove they are different than the PLP, I will believe the Americans in this one sorry OBA!

  8. CommonSensenBda says:

    The Islands to the south must be laughing their A$$’s off!!!

    For years until the UBP, then the PLP, the the two major powers did NOTHING.

    NOW WHEN WE ARE BROKE, (THANKS PLP) THE MONEY NECESSARY TO FIX THIS PROBLEM IS AT LEAST TWO YEARS AWAY. One year to design and decide how big it needs to be, and another year to build it (of course in a Black Bermudian neighborhood, IT CAN’T EVER BE IN ONE OF THE WHITE OR EXPAT NEIGHBORHOODS).

    Using the PLPbiu’s demand of “Public Inclusion” every person ALIVE MUST pay Two Hundreds Dollars to fund this Tourism Initiative WHICH WILL CREATE ALL THE JOBS THE OBA PROMISED!!!

    • nuffin but the truth says:

      Always some fool that thinks by trying to play the race card it will get them noticed…it’s a LOSERS stacked deck…look around and see how many mixed race people and couples there are…shove your race cards where the sun don’t shine!

    • haha says:

      so der ank no white Bermudians….**** off ya piece of ****!

  9. Betty Dump says:

    So the US consulate advises their citizens about our waters… Then little Bermuda’s health ministry replies? Who do we really think US residents are going to listen to?

  10. Mike Hind says:

    It ain’t 24th of May yet.
    Nobody should be swimming anyway!

    • nuffin but the truth says:

      says who?..you/..ain’t no one listening to you.

      • Mike Hind says:

        Wow. That was disproportionate.

        You do get that there is a tradition in Bermuda that it’s a “Rule” that Bermudians don’t go swimming before 24th of May, right?

        It was a joke.

        I know it’s verboten for me to speak on certain subjects ’round here, lest I get yelled at, but I thought making a joke would be ok.

        • nuffin but the truth says:

          ya asked for it ya got it…pity I cant post photos and then you’d see your so called rule is no longer valid.

          • Mike Hind says:

            Do you really not get it?

            Seriously? Do you not understand what inverted commas around a word mean?

            Do you not understand that I was making a joke about our Bermudian tradition of not swimming before 24th of May?

            How are you not getting this? Why so belligerent about it?

  11. Triangle Drifter says:

    Hungry Bay & Grape Bay are just either side of the sewage discharge which is outside of the outer reef line. What are the readings a little further away at Elbow Beach & Coral Beach to the west & Doe Bay & Ariel Sands to the east. There are large gaps in the outer reef line between Hungry Bay & Devonshire Bay. Westwards from Hungry Bay to past Coral Beach it is almost a solid reef line.

    • nuffin but the truth says:

      so what…the craps floats over the reefs

  12. kat says:

    I have found needles on the westend beaches also. Some still have doses in them

  13. Coffee says:

    It was a reason ex mayor Michael Bloomberg said Bermuda felt lighter after the OBA assumed political power .

  14. any pub can be good pub says:

    sweet piture.
    With our crystal clear water we can laugh it off. Now if our water looked like some other places I would be giving the warning some more thought.

  15. Mmm WATERS OF THE USA says:

    You are all right. I would much prefer to spend my money to go and swim at the beautiful clear blue water of Miami beach, with the stunning pink sand rather than Bermuda. Are you serious people? Get a grip, Bermuda is one of the most stunning places in the world and if your about to compare it to the beaches on the east or west coast of the US I highly suggest you take a visit to horseshoe bay tomorrow before you book your flight to beach dishwater somewhere in the US

  16. BdaGrl47 says:

    Hmmmmm, there seems to be “differing truths” on this subject. Hopefully the proper governmental department is on this like a duck on a june bug and “crystal clear waters and pink beaches” come out the winner…. Sadly, the punch has been thrown – the eye is blackening and potential visitors are watching.

  17. MB says:

    So either the Bda government or the USA are full of $h*t … I know who I believe. Bermuda we have a problem… Has anywhere in the Caribbean been slapped with such a warning on beach quality. The Health Ministry statement = covering their a**. They need to come clean.

  18. MB says:

    This is the most worrying sentence from the US Consul in Bda:

    “The Government of Bermuda has announced that it plans to take measures to reduce or treat the outfall, but as of March 2014, the dumping continues unabated.”

    We need to quit ‘dumping’ on the South Shore, does anyone know how this is even allowed to happen, how it is it OK to do this? Dump untreated sewage at sea??

    • yello says:

      Its a dated system dating back to the 60s or something like that. We are far behind the times.

  19. David says:

    The corporation of Hamilton is the source, maybe it’s time they had a real sewage treatment plant.

    • Family Man says:

      I don’t think CoH is the sole source. We’ve been getting “grease” balls washing up before Graeme & Donal came along.

  20. Snapper says:

    Great now that the tourism season has been ruined… Thanks Bermuda. I am sure plans are afoot now to finally do something about the lack of a system to deal with raw sewage!

  21. If that is the case,USA beaches must be 400 times as contaminated as the US EPA allows!

  22. Anyways,come to think about it,that crap may have come from the East coast of The Americas!!!!

  23. Take it Easy! says:

    If u go swimming on the East coast of USA its contaminated, If u go swimming down south of the USA Oil spills (BP disaster), and if u go on the west coast of the USA radiation (Yakushima), and dont talk about going swimming in the lakes in USA didn’t a bacteria kill people last summer in the USA? Take ya pick! Grape Bay for me! So the US consulate put a sock in it!

    • Redo says:

      You just dont get it. We arent talking about beaches in the US. We are talking about the beaches here, where we live. I dont give a rats ass what the beaches are like in the US. This is a validated warning based on facts by the US govt to warn their citizens of health risks. Its the right thing for the US to do. Give it a rest. Bermuda needs to stop dumping our sh-t into the ocean. End of story.

  24. treading water i hope says:

    almost everything humans bring to Bermuda will end up in the ocean, and much of it already has. the gas ,the car itself ,the plastic ,the bug spray, the steak and the beer. we are quite filthy when it comes to things we cant see. the aerial photo of south shore clearly shows a huge brown cloud not too far from the beaches. bermudas political parties share that pipe.

  25. nuffin but the truth says:

    IF the Ministry of Health & Environment want to get anyone to even think about believing them…have a PRESS MEETING with them SWIMMING in the South Shore!

  26. somuchless says:

    Ill believe everything is fine when I see Moniz and Zane out there with their arm bands floating around.

  27. el says:

    obviously it doesn’t take much to frighten some people, words on a page without any factual evidence is enough, and no research! tsk tsk smdh..this information from people who give out colour alerts in their colour coded society, children play with crayons..put on your adult drawers and do some tangible research before puttting out terrorist statments that do little to explain the effects for locals let alone people in US who are directly affected by their own conditions..

  28. no more democracy says:

    The OBA contradicts themselves and makes no apologies, I await the contradiction, via the government spokesperson.

  29. Tony Brannon says:

    The OBA has fallen into the trap of defending. The facts are that the Royal Gazette ran stories about this sewage issue in MARCH. 3 stories in two days: March 18th & 19th.
    There were THREE press stories about this on MARCH 18th & 19th

    The fact that the United States had to issue an advisory and then the OBA responds defensively is not good governance.

    Yes Bermuda looks wonderful and is. It is as pristine a place as any on the planet. A planet that is under serious attack from Pollution. The fact that we look so pristine should NOT placate anyone when it comes to the facts about our environment. Bermuda must step up and raise the bar. The way some Bermudians toss trash or abuse our beaches is not acceptable. Equally it is not acceptable that any sewage should be piped out into our ocean waters.

    Tourism needs to grow and people need to know they can swim in some of the cleanest waters on the planet.

    For the United States to say that the sewage dumped into our waters continues “UNABATED” is what really concerns me. It says that because the OBA did not satisfactorily address this issue the United States had to issue the advisory. Now Bermuda has to manage the negative press.
    The best way to do that is to stop dumping sewage in the ocean. Action speaks louder than a PR.

    UNITED STATES ARE NO ANGELS
    Some people are correct to point out that the United States left Bermuda with an environmental nightmare at Morgans Point and at the base. They walked away and that was environmentally unconscionable. They should have been made to make good on the mess they created and walked away from.

    THE FUTURE
    What is important is for BERMUDA to have the most important conversation about the environment.
    POLLUTION – The press/media need a full court press on this subject.

    The Planet is under threat.
    Global warming is a fact. Sea levels are rising. Extreme crop failures will become more frequent.
    http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-26810559

    BERMUDA
    With yesterdays United State Consulate “advisory” regarding sewage being openly dumped in our beautiful ocean, Bermuda needs to decide if ANY such dumping should ever be allowed. In my view unless the sewage has been treated and sanitized, no dumping should occur.

    ENVIRONMENTAL AWARENESS.

    We have all heard about the chronic decline of the BEE colonies in Bermuda. We have all heard about the tree frogs disappearing in Bermuda. The crops in Bermuda are being sprayed with Roundup – a cancer causing agent that also pollutes the seas and damages the coral reefs.

    It is time that Bermuda said NO to pollution. NO to disposable plastics. NO to ROUNDUP. NO to dumping sewage in the ocean.

    POLLUTION
    So we have The Bees under threat, the Tree Frogs under threat, The Lion Fish are here, RoundUp sprayed at almost ALL the local farms thereby increasing cancer in Bermuda……
    BEES
    http://www.royalgazette.com/article/20130918/NEWS/130919637
    TREE FROGS
    http://bermudasun.bm/…/Help-to-protect-our…/24/270/36936
    LION FISH threat
    http://edition.cnn.com/…/lionfish-infestation-atlantic…/
    ROUNDUP
    http://www.nationofchange.org/new-study-finds-roundup
    LINK to CANCER
    http://www.organicconsumers.org/monsanto/roundup.cfm
    ROUNDUP threatens CORAL REEFS
    http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_29214.cfm

    WHAT is the TRUTH ?
    On BERNEWS there are two stories
    http://bernews.com/2014/03/u-s-issue-warning-contaminated-beaches/ CONTAMINATED BEACHES
    http://bernews.com/2014/03/health-ministry-beaches-are-safe-for-swimming/ BEACHES ARE SAFE

    No doubt Bermuda has a much better and safer environment that just about ANY seaside town in the United States of America.
    But we should NOT let this issue be swept under the carpet. Environmental awareness is KEY to all of us and the survival of the planet. Just because Bermuda may be better than most countries, the facts are that we do have pollution here.

    Bermudians must realize that trash disposal is critical: Tossing anything away when on a boat, out the window of a car, or leaving a mess behind on our beaches is NOT acceptable.
    How we dispose of our waste is very important to the health and safety of ALL OF US !

    • el says:

      what is crucial is that we have allowed certain groups of people on this island and since which a lot of bermudians have had all sorts of ailments.. that is the real conversation, we need to have control of our own island without the impact of so many different nations represented here, the enviroment, people, attitudes affect us globally and universally.. there is an unbalance in bermuda and has been for some time, we have ruined our health at the expense of giving others a better life.we have allowed people to bring all sorts of species in here undetected also trees have been cut down unnecessarily.. there are a number of issues, least of all a warning for US citizens to be aware of us in any way shape or form.. they are the terrorist, .art imitates life.

  30. Coffee says:

    Is the OBA lying … Again .. If they are then they could be accused of being anti business by the Americans . That office in D.C , established under the last administration needs to get to work on this .

  31. Jamwasea says:

    This coming from a country (USA) who have the most polluted waters on the Planet ! The US Counsel here had better put up his numbers and compare to his own country! Annoyed big time with this guy!

    • payattention says:

      I don’t understand what you’re not getting! This S*!t..OUR
      S*!t…has nothing to do with whether the waters are dirtier in the USA!!!! Facts are facts!!!! Somebody was hired to do a job and they did it!!!! DAM!!!!!

  32. JUNK YARD DOG says:

    When and where do the mega cruise ships pump their poop thanks ?

  33. Pebblebeach says:

    OBA .. Clean this shi$ up or the struggling second pillar of our economy will die for sure…

    Your the Government of the day so let’s get on with it. American tourists will not listen to anyone else but themselves.

  34. I just really
    really really
    really really
    really really
    really really
    really really
    really really
    really don’t
    give a ship!

  35. wondering says:

    an extract from the Ministers statment
    “Greaseballs’ were last reported washed ashore in July (one incident) and before that in April and May when the island was experiencing a spate of Easterly winds and swells that brought grease onshore from the sewage outfall on at least two occasions”
    So when this happened exactly how many times did they close the beaches?? answer; none – why not!!?? utterly unacceptable – this isnt me throwing stones at the OBA/UBP/PLP – this “mess” happens to have come to a head during the OBA’s watch and they have to deal with it openly quickly and without getting more defensive about it than they already have – dont make excuses – FIX IT

  36. crow lane says:

    that pipe is a national emergency of dire proportions. its poor planning that the hospital and Hamilton were expanded and no changes were made for sewage. have a competition to see who comes up with the best solutions.

  37. Sara says:

    This is not good. So much for investing in infrastructure…

  38. raptor says:

    How many studies of the water did the US Consulate do? Zero. The most plausible explanation is that they read one study, which was commissioned by the Government itself, seeking to explain a one-time event, and misinterpreted the results. Meanwhile, the health department takes water samples at those beaches frequently. I would rather put my stock in the agency who sees the whole trend, not a third party with one report. They do need to make those results public though.

  39. Come On Man says:

    Im surprised they havn’t called itterrorism. LoL!

  40. Come On Man says:

    *terrorism

  41. Liqamydiq says:

    I’ve got a giant bag of mini baby Ruth’s and I’m not afraid to use them , you hear me snorkel park !