Great Bay Beach... polluted?

[mpcaruth]

I have come across numerous posts saying Great Bay Beach is polluted. What is the source of pollution? Treated or untreated human waste? Marina discharge? Stagnant water? I assume there is a water quality index out there... e. coli, nitrogen, phosphorus, clarity?

 

I want to know if what others on CC are saying is horribly and dangerously polluted is justified. (You know, some people swear you will get diseased and die a horible death if you get in a hot tub).

[Karysa]

Do a search on this board and read the newspaper articles and comments and make your own decision if this is the beach out of 37 beaches on the island that you want to spend your day at.

[mpcaruth]

Do a search on this board and read the newspaper articles and comments and make your own decision if this is the beach out of 37 beaches on the island that you want to spend your day at.

 

I did search this board. I also googled and did not find the answers to the questions I posted above. All I kept finding was a couple of the same folks stating over and over how polluted the water is.

 

I swim in the Chesapeake Bay, rivers, and lakes. There are set water quality parameter limits which trigger the health department to initiate swim advisories. Is there a similar process in St. Martin?

[Karysa]

I did search this board. I also googled and did not find the answers to the questions I posted above. All I kept finding was a couple of the same folks stating over and over how polluted the water is.

 

I swim in the Chesapeake Bay, rivers, and lakes. There are set water quality parameter limits which trigger the health department to initiate swim advisories. Is there a similar process in St. Martin?

 

For pictures and to read a newspaper article on this issue I would suggest that you search this forum for the January 31, 2010 thread entitled:

? Great Bay Pollution What is it like NOW?

 

post 9, 11 and 12 will provide you with good information

[gtaylor]

I've posted in many of these threads, including the one karysa mentions.

 

Any additional questions?

 

gary

[Karysa]

Thanks for posting the link Gary, one day I will learn how to do that. This is the thread to read for anyone wanting to understand the issue better. Again, thanks for taking the time and searching the thread out and for caring enough to post all the information for the rest of us in the first place.:)

[mpcaruth]

I finally had time to look into the Daily Herald news articles. (I searched their website for "Fresh Pond"). From what I can tell, based solely on various news articles from the past two years is:

1-Fresh Pond appears to be pond that has had many environmental issues in the past. "The wetland IBAs of Little Bay Pond, Fresh Pond and Great Salt Pond all face similar, multiple threats such as land reclamation for development, inappropriate development, use for landfill, pollution and contamination from runoff and sewage, inappropriate water management". source :http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/userfiles/file/IBAs/CaribCntryPDFs/st_maarten.pdf

2- Fresh pond encounters stormwater runoff and during significant storm events (such as hurricanes and tropical storms) the water can over flow the pond's banks and flood into Philipsburg.

3- In November 2010 and August 2011, Fresh Pond was threatening to overflow it banks into Philipsburg, and the "public works" opened the gates to the canal to release the Fresh Pond flood waters directly into Great Bay.

4- It appears public works is trying to rectify the issue. New stormwater pumps were installed in Philipsburg this summer and the wastewater treatment plant is currently undergoing upgrades and expansion.

To me it appears the "pollution" to Great Bay is isolated incidences related to preventing flooding in town. I could find no documentation on water quality tests performed in Great Bay following the release of Fresh Pond. It appears the brown plume into Great Bay during the release was muddy water from storm runoff and scouring of sediment. It is most probable that in time, the "pollution" is assimilated by Great Bay. If the "pollution" remained constant, I would think there would be an algae issue in the bay due to significant "nutrients" from the pollution. I could find no record of related public health issues regarding people swimming at Great Bay.

This all appears to be an environmental issue, but not necessarily a public health issue at Great Bay. IMHO.

We will be in ST. Martin this winter, and I am thinking that I will go to the convenient Great Bay Beach. We only have 4 hours following our excursion and I prefer not to risk the local traffic and missing my ship; UNLESS, there is another Fresh Pond release.

[Karysa]

I finally had time to look into the Daily Herald news articles. (I searched their website for "Fresh Pond"). From what I can tell, based solely on various news articles from the past two years is:

 

1-Fresh Pond appears to be pond that has had many environmental issues in the past. "The wetland IBAs of Little Bay Pond, Fresh Pond and Great Salt Pond all face similar, multiple threats such as land reclamation for development, inappropriate development, use for landfill, pollution and contamination from runoff and sewage, inappropriate water management". source :http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/userfiles/file/IBAs/CaribCntryPDFs/st_maarten.pdf

 

 

2- Fresh pond encounters stormwater runoff and during significant storm events (such as hurricanes and tropical storms) the water can over flow the pond's banks and flood into Philipsburg.

 

3- In November 2010 and August 2011, Fresh Pond was threatening to overflow it banks into Philipsburg, and the "public works" opened the gates to the canal to release the Fresh Pond flood waters directly into Great Bay.

 

4- It appears public works is trying to rectify the issue. New stormwater pumps were installed in Philipsburg this summer and the wastewater treatment plant is currently undergoing upgrades and expansion.

 

To me it appears the "pollution" to Great Bay is isolated incidences related to preventing flooding in town. I could find no documentation on water quality tests performed in Great Bay following the release of Fresh Pond. It appears the brown plume into Great Bay during the release was muddy water from storm runoff and scouring of sediment. It is most probable that in time, the "pollution" is assimilated by Great Bay. If the "pollution" remained constant, I would think there would be an algae issue in the bay due to significant "nutrients" from the pollution. I could find no record of related public health issues regarding people swimming at Great Bay.

 

This all appears to be an environmental issue, but not necessarily a public health issue at Great Bay. IMHO.

 

We will be in ST. Martin this winter, and I am thinking that I will go to the convenient Great Bay Beach. We only have 4 hours following our excursion and I prefer not to risk the local traffic and missing my ship; UNLESS, there is another Fresh Pond release.

 

I am glad to see someone collecting the info and making an informed decision for themselves. For others who want to choose another close beach, Little Bay is less than 10 minutes by taxi and Dawn can be reached by taxi in less than 20 minutes. It takes about 20 minutes to walk from the pier to the beach area in town so time wise that would be about the same. Neither of these two beaches have documented pollution concerns to the best of my knowledge.

[gtaylor]

I wouldn't pay so much attention to the Fresh Pond as the canal that flows into Great Bay at Bobby's Marina.

 

It IS polluted with raw sewage.

 

Did you read the linked discussion and view the photos?

 

I was in Philipsburg on Wednesday and the canal was as polluted as ever.

 

If you are able to Google The Daily Herald, Google 'attitude' for a fairly recent editorial that kind of explains the current mindset and how it has to change. Raw sewage running through the streets is not a good thing.

 

I have a bookmark on my home computer, but I'm currently at 35,000 feet over Texas or somewhere using Gogo.

 

gary