A Possible Threat to the Marine Environment of Dominica

MFrost9133 at aol.com MFrost9133 at aol.com
Wed Jul 24 22:48:07 EDT 2002


I have received permission from Alan Lowe to list this letter of concern
dated January 22, 2002.

I worked with Alan Lowe when I participated in a project in June of 2000 in
Dominica.  At that time he was leading the work at Applied Marine
Technologies.  I was a member of a project cosponsored by CEDAM and AMT.  We
placed two artificial reef balls offshore of Dominica and started 15 local
species of coral on one reef ball while leaving the other alone.  The coral
specimens had been propagated by a cloning procedure patented by Alan Lowe.

A year later, in June of 2001, there had been healthy growth of the
propagated corals.
I have been in correspondence with Alan Lowe during the past year and am
concerned about the conditions at AMT.  I am hoping that someone reading
this
notice can suggest some action which would check out the conditions at
present.

Mary Lou Frost

* * * * * * *
Notice of Environmental Concern
regarding
Applied Marine Technologies Limited
January 22, 2002
by
Alan Lowe

I Alan Lowe am the inventor of the technology used to propagate coral at
AMT.
I am also the architect for the pumping systems used at AMT. As inventor and
designer I have first hand knowledge of the proper method of operation of
the
environmental safety constraints at the facility. I am writing this letter
because I have great concerns about the current management at AMT with sole
respect to their ability to properly operate the systems while keeping the
environment the first and uttermost concern.

I traveled to the United States on December 21, 2001 and returned to
Dominica
on January 15, 2002. On the evening of January 15, 2002 a group of people
took control of the facility on the orders of the lead investor. I
personally
know the lead investor and I can attest that he has no knowledge of the
proper operation of the facility. Under his direction several former
employees were rehired to operate the farm. As I am familiar with all
employees I can state that I do not believe any of these employees have
adequate knowledge of the proper operation of the facility.

The equipment that guards the safety of the Dominican environment must be
kept in perfect working order to ensure no foreign corals or other organisms
are allowed to enter the natural environment. My observations of the
facility
lead me to believe that all of the environmental protection devices are not
in operation with the possible exception of the Ultra Violet light
sterilizers. (Please note that the UV sterilizers do not sterilize the
return
to the environment effluent water but only treat that water leaving the
propagation tanks and returning to the large pools.)

Not in operation according to my observations as of 1/27/2002 are:
1. The effluent water ozone device
2. The fresh water mixer that dramatically reduces the salinity of the
effluent water causing cellular osmotic shock to salt water creatures
3. The containment of the non-indigenous corals has been breech by
intermingled use of hoses and bucketing of water from the containment tanks
to the rest of the system.

Currently visible in the regular system is a flat worm that I believe is
known as Convolutriloba retrogemma. This I have strong belief is an
Indonesian flat worm. I have been told it is now throughout the system.
I Alan Lowe can no longer be affiliated with AMT. I essentially have not had
any say in the day to day operation of the facility since December 2001. At
this time I am unsure of the safety of the natural environment and as a
strong urgent suggestion and environmental precaution, I would suggest that
the entire system be shut down and all tanks, hoses, pipes and pools be
sterilized to ensure the containment of the flat worms and any other
non-indigenous but yet unseen creatures which may have been allowed to
contaminate the entire system. It should be noted that if my identification
of the flat worms is correct they can quickly bloom into tremendous numbers
a
nd they contain a chemical that makes them toxic to predators. Since they
may
be foreign to Dominica this should cause great environmental concern.

Signed

Alan Lowe
CDOM1 at aol.com
~~~~~~~
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