conference magazine - Caribbean Environmental Health Institute

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water supplies. There is thus a pressing need to monitor over
several years the concentrations of POPs in the Caribbean population
and local food chains.
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Starting in 2007, using funding obtained under the Caribbean Eco-
Health Program (CEHP)—a four-year CAD$1.6 million grant to
develop a research and capacity building program—a research
project entitled Human Monitoring of Exposure to Persistent
Organic Pollutants (POPs), Pesticides, Metals and Zoonoses was
initiated. The goals of the study are primarily threefold: (1) determine
the body burden of POPs, heavy metals (mercury, lead) and
specific zoonoses in maternal blood among citizens of those living
in each CARICOM member state; (2) allow and facilitate all CARI-
COM Caribbean states to gain and develop the capacity and capability
to determine human exposure to these pollutants and
organisms; and (3) enhance the expertise of laboratory technicians
within each CARICOM island and the Caribbean region in general.
A key outcome objective of this study is to provide policy makers
within the Caribbean region with baseline data that are needed in
order to develop appropriate safety guidelines and effective monitoring
programs relative to management of heavy metals, pesticides,
and POPs within the region.
This research is the first to undertake a systematic approach
geared at determining levels of human exposure to POPs (and
related contaminants) in the CARICOM region. As such, the study
addressed key priorities for the Caribbean region as outlined by the
UNEP in its report from the UNEP Regional Workshop on the Reduction/Elimination
and Management of Pesticides in the Context
of the Stockholm Convention on POPs and the Basel Convention
on the Control of Trans-boundary Movement of Hazardous Wastes
and their disposal. In particular, it contributes to strengthening human
resources in the region, building laboratory capacity, and increasing
public, industry and governmental awareness, participation
and risk communication in the region. It also fills a gap in current
research and will be of significant value for both policy-making
and for raising public awareness about this important issue in the
region. It will also help raise awareness of the Stockholm Convention
among health professionals.
Infrastructure Rehabilitation in the U.S. Virgin Islands by May
Cornwall
The United States Virgin Islands is a group of islands in the Caribbean
that are an insular area of the United States. The total land
area of the territory is 133.73 square miles (346.4 km 2 ). As of the
2000 census, the population was 108,612.
Prior to the 1970’s, wastewater was collected in the major cities of
Christiansted (C’sted) and Frederiksted (F’sted) on St. Croix and
Charlotte Amalie on St. Thomas and discharged to the ocean with
little or no treatment. During the 1970’s a massive program was
completed under the Clean Water Act to bring secondary treatment
and discharge to long ocean outfalls to the major population centers
of the two main islands of St. Croix and St. Thomas. While the
system has worked well, extremely high levels of hydrogen sulfide
gas have caused major deterioration in the sewer lines, manholes
and pumping stations. In 2006, maintenance of the sewer system
was placed in the hands of a new Waste Management Authority.
Since that time, Hoyle, Tanner & Associates, Inc., has been working
closely as a third arm of the Authority to oversee O&M training,
cleaning, televising and evaluating the lines, prioritizing and developing
rehabilitation and replacement techniques, holding workshops
with mainland U.S.A. contractors and overseeing the repairs.
This presentation will deal with the unique problems experienced by
the Authority and their engineer due to the nature of the high strength
wastewater, the remoteness and extreme topography of these volcanic
islands, the economy which depends heavily on tourism and
thus clean beaches and water, the difficulties of meeting EPA’s National
Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) requirements
which were not developed with small islands in mind, the lack of specialized
local engineers and contractors with rehabilitation equipment
and know how and of course the high costs resulting from all of the
above.
This presentation will explain how the WMA and their engineer have
worked closely using both local resources and bringing in the
mainland expertise to develop an asset management program, categorize
and rate problem areas, and use trenchless technology to
bring their 1970 wastewater system into the 21 st century and
preserve the pristine beaches and coral seas well into the future.
HosPilot - Intelligent Energy Efficiency Control in Hospitals by
Nebojsa Kieskovic
HosPilot is a project which is focused on energy efficiency in hospitals.
It is initiated by EU (contract no. 238933) and it involves 11
partners (of which 3 hospitals) from 5 European countries
(Netherlands, Spain, Finland, France and Monaco).
The main goal of the project is to develop a methodology for creating
energy efficient hospitals. The HosPilot methodology will be able to
provide a hardware description for an energy efficient system for any
hospital, based on specific requirements of that hospital. This will be
a unique methodology, which considers energy efficient installations
in all the domains (lighting, HVAC, ICT…) and it will be made combining
the expert knowledge of all the partners in the project. It will
also define the best method for auditing a hospital, in order to obtain
the most relevant data, for the methodology to be applied to this particular
hospital. The methodology will be proven by creating 3 pilot
sites in the partner hospitals and monitoring those pilots in the period
of one year. In this process, the methodology will be improved further.
Also, it will be safeguarded that the HosPilot methodology is
applicable everywhere in Europe. Applied to any hospital it will give
results based on the particular needs of this hospital.
At the moment, the HosPilot project is in the middle of its realization.
It has generated significant results, which will be presented in this
paper. The most important results that will be presented are:
• State of the art analysis regarding the current situation of the
hospitals in Europe, in terms of energy management and consumption,
based on the main technological areas: lighting, heating,
ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC)
• Analysis of the audits conducted in six European hospitals
• A unique list of all the room types that can be found in a hospital,
summarized with all the requirements regarding lighting,
FIFTH BIENNIAL CARIBBEAN ENVIRONMENTAL FORUM AND EXHIBITION