This Friday, July 10th, cell number 10 at the non-hazardous waste storage facility (ISDND) at the Grandes Cayes eco-site will reach its maximum capacity. Beyond this point, household waste will be buried in an area not designated for this purpose, a temporary solution that raises questions about environmental risks. The Collectivity, for its part, assures that the area in question remains secure.
The situation was brought to light on June 30th by Maxime Arnal, director of Verde SXM, during the Guavaberry Networking event organized by the CCISM on waste management. The company, which operates the site, claims to have alerted the local authority, from the initial design stage of the landfill cell, about its saturation point and the eight months of work required to raise its height.
Impending saturation, work delayed
Scheduled to open in January 2025, cell number 10 can hold the equivalent of one and a half years' worth of household waste. Raising the height of the cell would create a "meta-cell" with a capacity of nearly 140.000 m³, providing four additional years of operation. The public tender, published in early June, received a bid from Verde SXM, but has not yet been awarded, delaying the start of construction.
Laurent Guillaume, director of the Environment and Ecological Transition department for the Collectivity, confirms that this saturation was anticipated from the project's inception. According to him, the delay is due to a bid that "exceeded the operational budget," forcing the Collectivity to restart the studies.
The director of Verde SXM regrets this “lack of foresight.” The longer the work is delayed, the greater the volume of waste buried in this temporary zone, deemed “non-compliant” by the operator, will become. This interpretation is disputed by the local authority. Laurent Guillaume assures that the waste burial, beyond July 10th, will take place in an area that has “already been secured.” He specifies, however, that “additional sealing work” will be necessary there.
The renvironmental risks ""to put into perspective"
The lack of complete sealing of the transitional burial zone could promote infiltration leachate, these waters from waste are likely to reach the soils and groundwater.
Maxime Arnal, however, downplays this risk. The waste produced in Saint-Martin is said to be particularly dry, and the site's rainfall means that leachate production remains very low. The latest groundwater analyses are "more than 93% compliant," with no exceedances for heavy metals or hydrocarbons. "The impacts should be put into perspective," says the company director, while acknowledging that this situation is not expected to last. _DR
And what about after the 4 years of operation of the raised cell no. 10?
Verde SXM is developing an €80 million energy recovery plant project, financed by private investors. The facility would process combustible waste and produce approximately 10% of the island's electricity, significantly reducing the amount of waste sent to landfill.
The project already has its building permit and a prefectural decree. According to Maxime Arnal, the main obstacle now is land ownership: the site intended for the factory is not yet secured. A declaration of public utility would be necessary to allow its acquisition, before construction begins, which is estimated to take three years.
