Health

Unless Local Leaders Drink Brown Water on Camera, Matter Remains a Crisis That Must Be Addressed, VIHA Says

The V.I. Housing Authority's executive director, in a striking display of skepticism towards the handling of the water quality crisis in the Virgin Islands, said until local leaders are willing to consume the brown water coming from the faucets of homes across the territory, the matter remains a crisis and should not be considered resolved. “Unless someone from the Command Center, or the governor, or the WAPA CEO is willing to drink the brown water on camera, it is not resolved in the minds of residents," VIHA chief Robert Graham said during a VIHA board meeting Wednesday. He said the Unified Command Center needs to take the years-long water discoloration issue as seriously as it did the discovery of potential lead and copper contamination in the potable water distribution system on St. Croix.  “Even if you do the testing and there’s not as much of an emergency as initially thought, the issue of the brown water will continue,” Mr. Graham told fellow board members, alluding to recent ...