The scoop of a Caterpillar backhoe reached down and lifted up a large clump of muck and sewage from the ghut along Waterfront Drive Friday morning.
It smelled like oil.
The Department of Disaster Management was alerted to an oil spill late Thursday and has since been working with BVI Fire and Rescue Services, the Water and Sewerage Department, Conservation and Fisheries, and the Ministry of Communications and Works to clean up the mess, according to a DDM press release.
DDM Deputy Director Evangeline Inniss, who was on the scene Thursday night, confirmed that the waste oil was discharged at the sewage pump station near Road Town, and leaked into the drainage system flowing toward the Crafts Alive Village, the release states.
DDM Director Sharleen DaBreo said that work was likely to be completed soon.
“They have contained the oil within the drain and work [Friday] morning focused on removing drain covers,” she said, adding, “The next phase of work will entail the actual clean-up.”
See the Aug. 22 issue for full coverage.
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