Storm drain to the sea, across from the new Alcaldia project.
Photo by Mary Ann Lucking

New Alcaldia

The new Alcaldia construction project has also spilled a lot of sediment into the bay. Photos show the storm drain across the street from the building site dumping sediment laden water into the bay.

Impacts from Culebra School Project

One of the most serious water quality violators has been the 22 million dollar school project located in a coastal wetland. The implementation of proper erosion control has yet to be realized or enforced. In the case of the school, the decorative temporary erosion control barrier was incorrectly installed and then mud from the project is just pumped around the curtain and into storm drains. A few yards away, the storm drains dump into the bay turning the waters of the bay into water that look more like the Mississippi River.

This bay at least used to have sea grass listed Resource Category 1 Critical Habitat for endangered species and Essential Fish Habitat. There is a concensus among coral experts that damage from this type of non-point source pollution is considered the greatest threat to corals and sea grass today.

Please see http://mosquitobaysediment.blogspot.com for more information on impacts of sediment to coastal tropical resources.

What happens on sunny days..On November 15th, the pumping continues...directly from the project...Hey somebody call the police because this is a crime...At least the big pile of mud was moved away from the corner! Still no erosion control.
Photo by Mary Ann Lucking

Here is the erosion control at the front of the project along the road that runs parallel to the bay.
Photo by Mary Ann Lucking

During rain events the runoff from the water shed runs through this entrance at the school project where the orange construction barriers have been confused with actual erosion control?
Photo by Mary Ann Lucking

Drain to the sea just a few feet away. The entire drain is located inside the FEMA storm surge flood zone, as I believe is the school. This means that during storms sea water encompasses the coastal area where this development is taking place.
Photo by Mary Ann Lucking

Mud flowing into drains.
Photo by Mary Ann Lucking

Corner of the project with storm drains visible.
Photo by Mary Ann Lucking

This is taken up from the corner in the previous photo, facing the bay. Water runs through the school project and heads to storm drains when it rains.
Photo by Mary Ann Lucking

This shows the corner where the school project is taking place. No erosion control was implemented around the pile of mud and the pump tube is visible at the corner of the street. The mud is pumped from the project directly into storm drains that only a few feet away, feed into the bay. This is the impact on days it does not rain.
Photo by Mary Ann Lucking