Last week, the Department of Planning and Natural resources declared Cramer Park and three other beaches on St. Croix as unsafe for swimming and fishing, news that disheartened St. Croix Easter campers. This week, the news is all rosy: All the beaches tested on St. Croix this week — among them Cramer Park, Columbus Landing (Salt River) and other popular camping spots like the Frederiksted Public Beach — passed D.P.N.R.’s water quality tests.
To prove safety, D.P.N.R. samples enterococci bacteria and turbidity, which is a measure of water clarity.
On St. Thomas only one beach, Coki Point, failed safety tests. All tested waters in St. John were good to go as well.
Below, the safe beaches:
St. Croix | Shoy’s, New Fort (Ft. Louise Augusta), Dorsch, Frederiksted Public Beach, Stony Ground, Spratt Hall, Pelican Cove (Cormorant), Rainbow, Columbus Landing, Buccaneer, Protestant Cay, Chenay Bay, Cramer Park, Halfpenny, Cane Bay, Princess (Condo Row) and Grapetree Bay.
St. Thomas | Magen’s Bay, Brewer’s Bay, Sapphire, Lindquist, Frenchman’s Bay, Secret Harbor, Lindbergh Bay, Water Bay, Hull Bay, Vessup Bay, Bolongo Bay and Bluebeard’s.
St. John | Johnson Bay, Great Cruz Bay, Cruz Bay, Oppenheimer and Frank Bay.
D.P.N.R. said all persons should be aware that storm water runoff may also contain contaminants or pollutants harmful to human health and therefore all persons should avoid areas of storm water runoff (i.e. guts, puddles, and drainage basins) or if any area appears discolored or has foul odors. DPNR will continue to monitor the impacted areas and waters.
For additional information regarding water quality call the Division of Environmental Protection at 773-1082 in St. Croix or 774-3320 in St. Thomas.
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