Frederiksted May Get Bottled Water, Water Bill Discounts, and, Finally, a Baseball Stadium

On Tuesday, the Senate passed bills to “ease the pain” of St. Croix’s West End residents who have been impacted by the Water and Power Authority’s brown water, testing of which has shown some elevated levels of copper and lead.

One measure would bring direct aid by making $350,000 available to impacted residents to buy bottled water. Another measure would mandate discounts on the water bills of affected residents for six months. Water and Power Authority officials have shown some resistance to billing abatements in previous hearings. They have said that the water is suitable for many uses, and the levels of lead and copper go down after a customer flushes their system.

The third measure would mandate that WAPA and any other water producer for public consumption test for lead and copper at least once a year. Sen. Angel Bolques said the actions were “quick” and “proactive” ways to address the water crisis.

Sen. Samuel Carrión said the measures “will bring some relief to the thousands affected.” He also said that the mandated testing will help the territory “avoid being again in the situation we are in today.”

Those three bills passed the Senate with no dissenting votes and will be presented to the governor for consideration.