more breaches

Construction is to begin immediately on an emergency outfall 1 000 metres off of Worthing Beach, as the Barbados Water Authority’s move to fix the sewage line has hit yet another snag.

Speaking to the media yesterday, Minister of Water Resources and Energy Wilfred Abrahams outlined that after using epoxy liners to repair the breaches they had discovered along the south coast sewage line, dye and pressure tests have revealed that there are still areas of back flow, signifying the possibility of other breaches.

“Somewhere along the line between the plant and the surge chamber, sewage was leaking. We didn’t know whether it was leaking from the patch that was put on; we didn’t know whether it was leaking from another breach, and we then started to do dye testing…We determined that once again there was a cross-contamination of the lines. We still do not know where along the force main the breach actually is,” he said.

“We employed the leak detection unit and we also employed the services with the ministry with respect to ground radar. We know there is a leak in the vicinity of where it was that we were working on, and until we get the camera back down in there we actually don’t know if it is the area that was patched or a new [one], but we also picked up noises further down the line as well, suggesting that there may be more than one leak,” he explained.

Abrahams gave the public the assurance that a study had been conducted by international marine engineering company, Baird, in assessing the current flow to ensure that there would be no risk to the beach, nearshore, or coral reef created by the outfall.

“We are having to balance a number of competing interests. I know the hoteliers and the public want the beach opened. I know that the people responsible for the swamp and all of the ecologists would like the sewage not to be going into the canals alongside the swamp. I know the majority of users of Highway Seven do not want the road dug up. We are having to balance all of those interests, but what informs the decision of this Government is the safety of Barbadians and visitors, the protection of our nearshore environment including our coral reefs, and the protection of the ecological system and
the network that is the Graeme Hall Swamp,” he added.

Excavation was scheduled to begin last night, with work scheduled “around the clock” until its completion, he stressed.

“We are not giving this to one contractor, because of the volume of work and the time frames we have to try to meet. We are using as many contractors as possible to do the different parts of it,” the minister said, insisting that there will be transparency throughout the entire process.
(JMB)