AIRPORT--St. Maarten Pride Foundation brought to the attention of The Daily Herald that trucks had been seen on Thursday afternoon transporting sand near the last remaining pond on the airport grounds and appeared to have been filling it in.
Nature Foundation Chief Marine Park Ranger Etienne Lake visited the site Friday morning and was informed that actually sand was being dumped around the pond to make the surface higher, in the hope of preventing sewage runoff from Beacon Hill from entering the pond.
He said it was apparent that sewage from homes in Beacon Hill was flowing constantly onto the airport boundaries and into the pond. Therefore, making the surface around the pond higher would guide the sewage back into Beacon Hill.
St. Maarten Pride Foundation's Vice President Reuben Thompson said that in the event filling in the pond was being considered, Pride encouraged airport management to contact the local environmental groups who could give advice on removing viable mangrove seedlings before the pond was filled in.
He said it was understandable and necessary for the airport to abide by international airport regulations. However, he noted that there were still important flora and fauna in the area such as iguanas, crabs and birds. He pointed out that such relocation of these natural resources had been done in 1998 during the filling-in of Flamingo Pond that was located on the airport premises.
