Oil-based paint
pollutes lagoon
SIMPSON BAY--The surface of Simpson Lagoon has had a rusty-looking oily surface for about a week now from a possible oil-based paint spill or runoff paint from a paint company in Cole Bay.
This is the conclusion of environmentalist Rueben Thompson who checked out the “spill.” With now accessible water testing facilities, Thompson told The Daily Herald that from the colouring and appearance the film on the lagoon surface is “definitely an oil-based substance.”
Cleanup is also difficult, as the island does not have the necessary tools readily available to mop up oil or any other spills in the lagoon or elsewhere around the island.
This is not the first time the lagoon as been polluted by paint or oil. Last year, a similar paint spill originating from the Cole Bay industrial site discoloured the water especially in the area of Simpson Bay Yacht Club and the Simpson Bay bridge. The discolouration occurred primarily in this area also in the past week because of the lagoon current.
The increasingly polluted state of the lagoon is of concern to environmental groups such as St. Maarten Pride Foundation, which has called on government several times over the years to make an inventory of businesses surrounding the lagoon and to monitor the filling-in of what was once the largest inland body of water in the Caribbean.
Pride Foundation hopes that with the Coast Guard headquarters moving to Simpson Bay next to the bridge, a more watchful eye will be kept on the happenings in the lagoon.
One resident said it was sad to see the lagoon, one of the island’s premier natural assets, quickly dying because of the lack of control and monitoring. “It is amazing to know the lagoon was as blue and clear as the ocean, but now you can hardly see under the surface.”
St Maarten Island Website
