The Environmental Balance Sheet for the Artificial Island Project

[Keith R]

Ok, in other forums people are debating the economic wisdom of Mondo Novo, the proposed artificial island to be built off of the Malecon in Santo Domingo. Here in this forum I'd like to focus on the environmental wisdom (or lack thereof) of the proposal, and what considerations the Environment Ministry should (as opposed is likely to) take into account when considering the required (by law) Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the project.

Let's try our best to raise both possible/probable pluses and minuses. The idea is to help the Ministry decide if, taking only into account possible/probable environmental impacts, the environmental benefits of this project outweigh the environmental costs.

To get the ball rolling, I'll reiterate a question I raised when this proposal first surfaced and which no one, not even project afficionado Nals, has responded to yet: what will this project mean for the large sewage runoff pipes discharging off the Malecon smack dab in the middle of where this project is proposed to be placed? Will they simply extend the pipes underwater further out to sea? Even then, doesn't there remain a significant risk of raw sewage from these pipes blowing back on Mondo Novo's artificial beach and marina, making them unpalpable to investors and visitors alike? What about the impact on surrounding sea life, including reefs?

What about the (additonal) contamination the enclosed harbor would probably bring to the Malecon's beaches?

How in the world do the proponents plan to deal with the concentrated sewage load and drainage runoff that the artificial island would bring?

The artificial island supposedly will have its own power source. But where would that plant be located? What kind of fuel will it use? What will be done to ensure that its emissions (air, water, sound) will be minimized?

I also wonder what impact this project might have on SD harbor, and how its proponents expect Mondo Novo to escape the trash and contaminants flowing out of the Rio Ozama...

Musing aloud,
The Environment Forum Moderator

[Criss Colon]

Every Public Works Project that the Government of the DR undertakes is an "Ecological Disaster"!The entire Country is an "Ecological Disaster"!There is no thought given to the ecological impact of a "project",only to the financial benefit to the government officials involved!Thank God that the "Metro",and this "Island" will NEVER come to pass.Just like the "Nuclear Power Plant",the Ukranian "Aircraft Plant",and the "Indian Railroad" from Haina to Santiago!Lets hope that the "PRD" is never in power again,as these "Mega-Constructions" will go right back into high gear,the expected Government "Commisions" are just to big to let pass!
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[NALs]

http://www.fdimagazine.com/news/full...new_world.html

This is an excerpt from the article..

"A spokesman for Nesco Entrecanales said one of the objectives was to improve the waterfront environment and provide a stimulus for tourists to visit the area. The work will entail the construction of a number of floodgates to ensure that no sewage from the River Ozama is leaked into the island waters during the rainy season.

“We also plan to clean up the city’s badly polluted beaches,” the spokesman said. “The idea is to create a new city in the sea to give the area a modern and dynamic life.”


In addition to all of this, here I have pasted an article (with sources and everything) on certain entities that have already reserved their space on the to be built island, (ie. Vesuvio Restaurant owners and the investors of Malecon Center)

Escrito por Arquitectura Dominicana
sábado, 18 junio 2005
Malecón Center y Vesubio apartan espacio en la Isla

SANTO DOMINGO. El grupo Vesubio y la empresa que construyó el Malecón Center son las primeras instituciones en apartar espacios en la Isla Artificial conocida como “Novo Mundo XXI”, que será levantada en el mar, frente a la avenida George Washington, a un costo de US$450,000,000.

La información la ofreció ayer en rueda de prensa el arquitecto Eduardo Selman, coordinador del proyecto, quien aclaró que el Gobierno no aportará ninguna inversión. También habló el director de Prensa e Información de la Presidencia, Rafael Núñez.

Dijo que el contrato firmado el miércoles por el Estado dominicano con las compañías extranjeras encargadas de la obra será llevado la semana entrante al Congreso Nacional, para su ratificación.

“A partir de la firma del contrato, el Poder Ejecutivo lo envía al Congreso para su ratificación y los concesionarios tienen un período para realizar la gestión de un financiamiento de US$450 millones, demanda de una serie de requisitos, de tiempo, que están contemplados en ese plazo”, dijo.

Declaró que los concesionarios también necesitan tiempo “para la terminación de los estudios de impacto ambiental y de datimetría, que es la parte marina”, que estará a cargo de una empresa inglesa que fue la misma que hizo los trabajos arquitectónicos y sanitariosdel aeropuerto de Japón.

Selman manifestó que el Gobierno “trata de construir un hito urbano que haga a Santo Domingo una atracción turística”, dijo.

Añadió que en la primera fase de la isla artificial será construida una marina con capacidad para 300 botes, además de los centros comerciales y residenciales.

Dijo que las cosas que allí se edificarán son de propiedad privada, pero que el público tendrá acceso a las áreas de paseos.

El proyecto generará 30,000 empleos y dará beneficios al Gobierno por 200 millones por concepto de la venta del terreno más impuestos por la comercialización de los edificios que se construyan en el área.

Otra Marina

El arquitecto Eduardo Selman dijo que en la segunda fase del proyecto se construirá una marina con capacidad para 500 yates, en un área que empieza en el obelisco hasta Sans Soucí, a un costo de US$400,000,000.

El proyecto “Novomundo XXI” y el que se levantará en Sans Soucí lo ha concebido a manera de concesión el Gobierno para transformar todo el litoral Sur de Santo Domingo.

- Manuel Vólquez

Fuente: Diario Libre

[Keith R]

Originally Posted by Nal0whs

http://www.fdimagazine.com/news/full...new_world.html

This is an excerpt from the article..

"A spokesman for Nesco Entrecanales said one of the objectives was to improve the waterfront environment and provide a stimulus for tourists to visit the area. The work will entail the construction of a number of floodgates to ensure that no sewage from the River Ozama is leaked into the island waters during the rainy season.

“We also plan to clean up the city’s badly polluted beaches,” the spokesman said. “The idea is to create a new city in the sea to give the area a modern and dynamic life.”

No, not really. This brief repetition of vague promises doesn't really answer anything I raised (the sewer pipes at the end of Churchill, the power station emissions, the marina's effect on Malecon beaches, the sewage load rrepresented by the project itself, etc) except how they expect to avoid the contaminants from the Ozama -- and even that raises more questions in my mind than it answers. A series of floodgates? Where? How? How without affecting the harbor channel?

[NALs]

http://www.novomundoxxi.com/home/impactos.html

http://www.novomundoxxi.com/home/dtecnicos.html

http://www.novomundoxxi.com/home/vision.html

http://www.novomundoxxi.com/home/images/map001.jpg

http://www.novomundoxxi.com/home/suelo.html

http://www.novomundoxxi.com/home/map2.html

http://www.novomundoxxi.com/home/participantes.html

[Keith R]

Thanks for the links.

However, they still do not answer many of the points I raised, and mine were only starters. For example, they admit in the technical section that they have not figured out yet how to power the island -- "it needs to be studied." For potable water, they just say that they'll hook up to the city supply and consider a desalination plant for backup in case of shortages. For the current sewage lines emptying into the sea on the Malecon and the sewage from the artificial island itself, they claim that they will pipe it out to sea in the West. In the case of the island's sewage, they say they might treat it on-site first (how? with chemicals? surely not with multiple (smelly) lagoons). They also propose to have the contaminants from the Rio Ozama collected through the artificial lagoon system to be piped out to the West. Given the concentrated nutrient load & possible concentration of contaminants from the river and its sediment this triple discharge suggests, I am concerned. And I have to wonder what this discharge might do to Haina & other parts West of downtown SD, not that I expect the investors & central government to care much about that...

The project proposal repeats the promises of cleaning up the Malecon beaches, but does really not explain how. More importantly, they do not mention any commitment to maintain them clean. What is to prevent the visitors & residents of the island from tossing litter and contaminants into the waters on the Malecon side, soon rendering the beaches ugly and unusable again if there is not a regular cleanup maintenance program? [Please don't tell me rich & upper class Dominicans don't litter -- I have seen it too many times with my own eyes to buy that. ] And if such a program is indeed maintained, who's going to pay for it? The island management? The City of Santo Domingo? Oh yeah. You keep insisting that this project will not cost Dominican taxpayers a dime, so the regular cleanup costs will HAVE to come from island management. Should be interesting to see how long that commitment endures....

Although not strictly an environmental question, I have to wonder at how the island would support the high cost of all these services. Essentially its own power and sewage, a desalination plant, own trash service (wonder how they'll do that without involving the City? I thought that was not possible under "unbreakable" contracts that Balaguer made. And the cost of trucking it to Duquesa....), solving (and keeping solved) the contamination problems of the Malecon beaches & Ozama harbor, etc. all will likely be extremely costly to maintain properly once built. Do the investors really hope to recoup such operating (not initial outlay) costs without cutting corners?

Where are they planning to get the 10-12 million cubic meters of fill that they say will be required?

If this project is not completed as planned, or not maintained properly once built (always a possibility in the DR), it could become a huge eyesore for SD. A giant albatross.

[Texas Bill]

I can see a whole world of problems before they even begin!!!

1) There are NO provisions for the "free-flow" of tidal waters between the island and the mainland!!! One end is entirely closed off by the connecting landfill to the East and the Western edge of the island has a very narrow passage available for the ingress/egress of vessels. Obviously, lack of free flowing water will result in stagnation and accumulation of refuse between the existing beaches of the Malecon and the island. In a few months the area will become a cesspool and a definite additional health hazard to what already exists. Further the pumping of the bilges and "heads" of the boats in the Marina will add to the incipient contamination of the artificial "estuary" created.

I believe it is significant that the population using the Malecon at present doesn't have the common sense to keep the place clean as it is, much less the common sense and incentive to do so in the future. It just isn't in the Dominican nature to clean up after themselves from an outing. Justification for that remark lies in the photo of the existing beach area.

It would behoove the existing (and future) government agencies to forcefully require the users to practice "reasonable care" in the matter of trash disposal and severely fine those who don't comply willingly. That's the ONLY way anyone will be able to control the garbage disposed of on the Malecon on a daily basis.

2) Unless the sewage from the project is treated prior to its disposal, the effects will become healthfully devastating to both the inhabitants of the project and to the general public. What would you bet that the plans call for dumping this on the Malecon side of the island instead of running a 3-mile sewage pipe out to sea for discharge???

3) How about the proper disposal of the everyday garbage collected on the island. Has an additional landfill been identified to take care of this problem?? The existing landfill used by Santo Domingo and it's environs is overtaxed as it is. Maybe they'll just truck it to the Haitian border as a gift to the starving Haitians???

4) The inherent isolation of the island lends itself to being a closed community for the "got-rocks" population of this and other countries. I fail to see the benefits of such a tourist mecca as it is. Surely, most of the money will be spent on the island, with the only benefits being that some unskilled laborers will be employed and taxes will be forthcoming.

5) I also noticed that there are NO Dominican contractors mentioned in the benefits column. All seem to be from Europe (Spain, mainly)

6) Just HOW do they intend to stabilize the bay floor to accept the tremendous overload of soil being put in place? If not done properly, the result will be to eventually extend the Malecon beach-head out to sea. There is probably several hundred feet of silt (and clay) in that bay at present that will need to be stabilized prior to commencing the "fill" process. Many millions of cubic meters of boulders and large gravel will be required to effect this.

Personally, I think it's a bad idea to begin with, but then, I'm not on the receiving end of the milk-train.

Texas Bill

[NALs]

Folks, the last link I provided gives email addresses, real addresses of offices and such where you can get further information yourself on anything else of this project.

Ask the creators of this project, they will surely have some sort of answers to your unending array of questions.

BTW, TB, the lagoon between the mainland and the island will be intentionally cut off from the sea in order to keep the pollution of the sea in the sea and not in the lagoon. The lagoon water will be cleaned and recycled and thus, making the water suitable for recreational activities including jet ski, waverunners, etc.

For more info on how they will accomplish this, just send them an email.

[Keith R]

Originally Posted by Nal0whs

Folks, the last link I provided gives email addresses, real addresses of offices and such where you can get further information yourself on anything else of this project.

Ask the creators of this project, they will surely have some sort of answers to your unending array of questions.

Maybe some, but I seriously doubt all. They all but confess not to have worked out the power supply question (kinda makes you wonder -- plan a project of this size without having worked out the power question first?), and from the description of their plans for water and sewage, as well as beach cleanup, they have not worked all the details there out yet either.

BTW, TB, the lagoon between the mainland and the island will be intentionally cut off from the sea in order to keep the pollution of the sea in the sea and not in the lagoon. The lagoon water will be cleaned and recycled and thus, making the water suitable for recreational activities including jet ski, waverunners, etc.

Not likely to allow jetskiing, or at least, not advisable, not if they also want to make the Malecon beaches swimming beaches again. The area available would not be big enough -- not if they stick to the dimensions in the proposal.

[Hlywud]

Why do they allow untreated sewage to be dumped into the sea? No wonder giardisis (spelling?) is prevalent in the resort area of the DR.