The Department of Planning and Natural Resources in a release issued Friday made known that it had issued the permits for the Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to conduct air curtain incineration of debris in the territory, but USACE says the potential operation is currently on hold, following the 32nd Legislature’s override of Governor Kenneth Mapp’s veto of a bill that banned burning of debris by the government in the territory, and a lawsuit.<\/p>\n
“We’re not burning anything right now,”\u00a0George Stringham, USACE’s Recovery Field Office public affairs chief in the territory, told The Consortium Tuesday, even as he confirmed that permits had been issued. Mr. Stringham said he could not comment further because of the lawsuit, and referred The Consortium to the Department of Justice.<\/p>\n
According to D.P.N.R., the burning operation was approved for\u00a0Estate Body Slob, St. Croix, which is located near the Kingshill Cemetery.<\/p>\n
The 32nd Legislature, in a rebuke to Mr. Mapp and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, overrode Mr. Mapp\u2019s burning ban veto 12-2 on December 21<\/span><\/a>, disrupting the Mapp administration\u2019s and FEMA\u2019s plan to burn about 35 percent of the roughly 700,000 cubic yards of vegetative debris left behind by Hurricanes Irma and Maria. Senator Novelle Francis, who told The Consortium\u00a0that<\/a>\u00a0he would not immediately participate in an override attempt, forsook his own words and joined with the majority in the override, stating that while he did not have a problem with some burning, he took issue with the locations where the burning would occur.<\/p>\n During the Dec. 21 session, senators highlighted the same reasons given during past Senate meetings discussing the ban, along with new ammunition from an Army Corps of Engineers video showing a\u00a0massive debris-mulching operation currently ongoing in PR.<\/a> Senators favor mulching.<\/p>\n Throughout #PuertoRico<\/a>, a massive operation to remove more than 3 million cubic yards of debris churns on. Just outside of Ponce, the Recovery Field Office has established a bustling collection site in the El Tuque Quarry to collect vegetation, or veg, debris. ?: Patrick Loch pic.twitter.com\/kQJTCR2bMd<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 USACE HQ (@USACEHQ) December 5, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n