Representatives of Water Authority – Cayman, the Department of Environment (DOE), the Department of Environmental Health (DEH) and the National Roads Authority (NRA) recently met to discuss the results of the sampling of stormwater well waste conducted by the Water Authority in July, 2018, and to determine a permanent solution for disposing of this waste in a safe, effective manner. The DEH has agreed to make its temporary disposal agreement with the NRA permanent and make provisions for a purpose-built disposal site at the landfill.

 Following news reports in June, 2018, that the NRA was discharging waste from its stormwater well maintenance programme into a wetland area off the Linford Pierson Highway, the four agencies met to discuss the programme and devised a plan to characterise the waste through testing of representative samples. The Authority’s accredited Laboratory tested the samples for wastewater related parameters such as biochemical oxygen demand, total coliforms, including E. coli, nitrogen, and phosphorous, while samples were also sent overseas to be tested for the presence of metals, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs).

Water Authority Water Resources Engineer Hendrik-Jan van Genderen explained that the well waste mainly consists of inert material and water. The sludge samples from both the Linford Pierson site and from a sample well on Seymour Road did not contain volatile organics above the analytical method detection limit.

“The results of the Authority’s testing and the overseas testing were extensive,” Mr. van Genderen said. “We can confirm that the waste from the stormwater cleaning has a relatively low organic content, i.e. it consists mainly of inert material.”

 Nevertheless, the agencies all agreed that the disposal of stormwater well waste into wetland sites or former quarry sites should be discontinued and the DEH agreed to extend its current disposal agreement with the NRA into a permanent solution.

DEH Acting Director Richard Simms confirmed that a new disposal trench would be built for the well waste.

“The Department of Environmental Health is prepared to be part of the solution and my colleagues agreed that it was the right solution to dispose this waste at the George Town Landfill, instead of at the sites that the NRA has been using for awhile. The Landfill is ready on short notice to receive this waste.”

Stormwater wells are intended to dispose rainwater runoff and must not be used as dumping sites for hazardous substances such as vehicle fluids, cleaning fluids, etc. For more information, please visit the Best Management Practices section of the Authority’s website.

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The Water Authority is the statutory body responsible for the management of water and wastewater in the Cayman Islands. The Administrative Headquarters is located at 13G Red Gate Road, George Town, Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands.