Lawmakers on the Senate Government Operations, Veterans Affairs and Consumer Protection Committee on Monday advanced legislation allowing the use of air curtain incinerators for green-waste disposal, adding safeguards aimed at protecting air quality and public health.
After hours of testimony and at times tense debate over landfill fires, shrinking capacity and impacts on nearby communities, senators voted to send Bill No. 36-0232 to the Senate Rules and Judiciary Committee with a favorable recommendation. The approval came with new conditions governing how and where the incinerators can operate.
Before the vote, the committee adopted Amendment No. 36-743, offered on behalf of Sen. Clifford Joseph, adding several operational guardrails while keeping the bill’s core authorization intact.
The amendment requires that incinerators be operated by certified personnel and prohibits their use within 300 feet of any residence. It also mandates inspection and approval by the Department of Planning and Natural Resources before any unit begins operation.
To address air-quality concerns, the measure requires at least four perimeter monitors at each site to track fine particulate matter. Data must be made publicly available monthly, and operations must stop if pollution levels exceed national standards until conditions return to compliance.
Additional provisions require twice-yearly inspections of each unit and direct the Virgin Islands Waste Management Authority, in coordination with DPNR, to establish formal operating policies within 60 days of enactment.
Officials from the Virgin Islands Waste Management Authority and the Department of Planning and Natural Resources, who supported the measure, said the territory’s two main landfills are nearing capacity, with Anguilla estimated to have about three years of remaining space and Bovoni about seven. They warned that a major storm could rapidly accelerate that timeline by generating large volumes of vegetative debris.
Between 2024 and 2025, VIWMA recorded 15 landfill fires, with another already in 2026, CFO Daryl Griffith testified. “When green waste accumulates at landfill sites, it significantly increases the risk of landfill fires,” he said, citing threats to “public health, air quality, worker safety, critical infrastructure, and of course, our nearby communities.”
Fire and emergency leaders backed him, with Assistant Director Clarence Stephenson warning that “Inaction simply delays the problem until the next landfill fire, at which point our concerns about emissions, air quality and safety become reactive instead of proactive.”
Supporters framed the incinerators as part of a broader Waste Management strategy, alongside mulching, grinding and composting, rather than a replacement for those methods. Still, they said air curtain units can reduce the volume of green waste far more quickly, particularly after storms, when debris can overwhelm other systems. Ultimately, proponents argued that the territory must act now to reduce fire risk and manage waste more effectively.
Opponents urged senators to reject routine use of air curtain incinerators, warning the technology would worsen air pollution for residents and undermine more sustainable solutions like composting.
Community advocates from Bovoni, Bolongo and Nadir described their neighborhoods as long-burdened communities. Felicia Blyden, member of the Bovoni Bolongo Nadir Community Organization said industrial-scale burning would pose a direct health risk, citing asthma and other respiratory concerns, and called for greater focus on composting and mulching.
She criticized the bill as “vague” on protections and called instead for a firm commitment to “composting, mulching and shredding … sustainable activities with the least impacts on human health and the environment.”
Environmental groups echoed those concerns. Dawn Henry, CEO of the Virgin Islands Environmental Association, told lawmakers that air curtain incinerators still emit harmful pollutants, including fine particulate matter. “Clear does not mean clean,” she said, warning that emissions can remain dangerous even when not visible.
Health officials and technical experts also urged caution, emphasizing that fine particulate pollution has no known safe exposure level and can be especially harmful under local weather conditions.
In the end, the committee voted 4-1 to advance the bill, with two members not voting. Sens. Avery Lewis, Kenneth Gittens, Franklin Johnson and Novelle Francis Jr. backed the measure, saying the territory must act to curb landfill fires and manage shrinking space.
Sen. Ray Fonseca, the lone no vote, pointed to the close proximity of homes to the Bovoni landfill, arguing that adding another source of combustion in a residential area is unacceptable. He also signaled plans to introduce amendments to limit the bill’s scope as it moves forward.
Sens. Alma Francis Heyliger and Carla Joseph both abstained. Francis Heyliger said she did not want to take a final position until she could review all proposed amendments in the Senate Rules and Judiciary Committee, saying she prefers to decide only after “a happy medium is figured out.” Joseph, who is preparing her own amendment to limit when the incinerators can operate and to tighten health protections for nearby residents, likewise withheld a vote while those changes are still being drafted.
