VINP officials will be looking into possibly dredging the Cruz Bay Creek area, above and below, in order to remove built up silt and install a floating pier.
The Virgin Islands National Park Visitor’s Center is located in Cruz Bay and includes a bulkhead and finger pier where park vessels are docked. As a result of commercial barge and ferry boat traffic in Cruz Bay Creek, sediment has built up reducing the depth of water near the Visitor Center.
Due to the sediment buildup, over one third of the park service bulkhead is no longer accessible by boat.
The National Park Service is proposing to dredge Cruz Bay Creek and construct a floating boat pier adjacent to the park’s boat ramp. An Environmental Assessment is being prepared to analyze the potential for impacts of the proposed project on the human, physical, and natural environment.
The dredging project would include the removal of approximately 8,300 cubic yards of sediment. The sediment would be dried on the park’s property and ferried to the Bovoni Landfill on St. Thomas. Three conceptual design alternatives are being considered for the proposed floating boat pier. A scoping newsletter has been prepared to solicit public comments on the proposed project.
Copies of the scoping newsletter are available at the VINP Visitor Center at 1300 Cruz Bay Creek in Cruz Bay, St. John. The newsletter will also be available on the National Park Service’s Planning, Environment, and Public Comment website http://parkplanning.nps.gov. Under “Choose a Park” click on “Virgin Islands National Park” and follow the link to “Dredge Little Cruz Bay EA.”
The public is asked to submit comments by June 13. It is NPS practice to make all comments, including names and addresses of respondents who provide that information, available for public review.
Individuals may request that the NPS withhold their name and/or address from public disclosure. To do this, commenters using the website can make such a request by checking the box “keep my contact information private.” If submitting written comments, please state this request at the beginning of the comment. The NPS will honor such requests to the extent allowable by law.
