UPDATE: St. Maarten Nature Foundation Dealing With Diesel Fuel Spill in Simpson Bay Lagoon

COLE BAY — The Sint Maarten Nature Foundation has been responding to an ongoing diesel Fuel Spill in the Simpson Bay Lagoon. On Sunday the Foundation was alerted to a large amount of fuel entering the Simpson Bay Lagoon from a channel in Cole Bay close to Kool Baai Villas. It was established that the fuel was diesel and that the source was somewhere in the area, perhaps from unregulated garages that can be found throughout the Cole Bay district.

After investigating with inspectors of the Maritime Affairs Department and inspectors from the Economic Affairs department the fuel originated at a business that was broken into early on Sunday. Thieves stole fuel that was stored in containers, breaking them open and leaving them leak into the environment.

“For the past 48 hours we have been dealing with this spill and we have been working with the authorities, including law enforcement and the various inspection units of Government as part of our response protocols. Unfortunately it appears as if theft caused the fuel to be dumped into the channel which eventually led into the Simpson Bay Lagoon. We have been trying to clean up as much as we can and have been making progress, but the amount was significant,” commented Nature Foundation Manager Tadzio Bervoets.

Photo caption: Absorbent booms and pads placed by the Nature Foundation at the spill location. Photos provided by Nature Foundation.