An environmental group has raised serious concerns about the implications of a sediment plume that has formed in the South Basin.

The Bermuda Environmental Sustainability Taskforce (BEST) claims the plume could have more serious consequences than the ACBDA and its environmental advisories initially made out earlier this week.

In a statement released yesterday Stuart Hayward, BEST chairman, said: “This plume event is a self-evident indicator that declarations that ‘we know what we’re doing and have everything under control’ are misguided, somewhat arrogant and fall far short of reality.” But last night Mike Winfield, CEO of the ACBDA, maintained there were series of “containment and monitoring systems” in the South Basin to manage the dredge material that is being deposited there. Dredging work on the North Channel, which has been undertaken so Bermuda can accommodate the latest model of cruise ships, began at the beginning of the week.

The material collected from the dredging project has been moved to the South Basin in Dockyard where it will be used in the America’s Cup village project.

On Wednesday, Jack Ward from ACBDA advisory group Bermuda Environmental Consulting (BEC) said: “Just like we experience similar conditions after a period of high wind or waves, short-term spikes in turbidity are not highly threatening to marine communities. As long as these plumes are not allowed to persist it is unlikely that detectable harm will occur.

“Over the short term this is more of a ‘visual insult’ than a real environmental concern. This milky water is caused by very fine particulates that are slow to settle to the bottom.”

However, Mr Hayward said that turbidity was just one facet of a myriad of possible impacts.

He added: “What if, instead of a visible plume of fine sediment, the fugitive plume was comprised of paint solvents, or exotic and toxic boat-bottom paints, or the numerous hydrocarbons and other chemicals associated with commercial boatyards and marinas? Not only would the effects of such a plume be biohazardous to benthic life, the plume itself would be well-nigh invisible and therefore unnoticeable until the damage was done and irreversible.

“The lesson to be learnt here is that we are severely taxed to predict and cope with a visible plume. Invisible plumes of effluents from a boatyard and other industrial marine activities ultimately slated for this site will be impossible to trace, track or remedy.”

Nearly 600 corals have already been relocated from the North Channel to adjacent reefs and are being monitored as part of the dredging project.

Calling for a credible Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and public consultation exercise Mr Hayward added: “Part of the reason they were able to anticipate plume formation and escape is because of the Environmental Impact Assessment addendum done at the very last minute by BEC. “What the public needs to realise is that the emergency EIA was done solely for the landfill, not for the interim America’s Cup Event Village, and not for the end-use plans that include a commercial and maintenance boatyard and a luxury marina. This plume event reinforces, however unintentionally, our point that the scale and location of landfill would never have got the green light had it not been for the pressure of the America’s Cup.

Mr Winfield told The Royal Gazette that the containment and monitoring systems in the South Basin were part of a larger plan to mitigate the environmental impact of the infill project.

“BEST raises certain hypothetical concerns in its release that cannot be reliably applied to the present situation in the South Basin. BEST has also previously complimented the work done on the EIA for the South Basin infill by the ACBDA’s environmental consultants, BEC. The ACBDA will continue to work with BEC to minimise the impact of the infill project on the environment. With regards to an EIA for the end-use of the infill, in September this year, the Minister of Home Affairs called for further environmental study and public consultation to be done before final ‘end-use’ permission is granted.”