Office of the Commissioner 
 
 
GOVERNMENT OF THE VIRGIN ISLANDS OF THE UNITED STATES 
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DEPARTMENT OF PLANNING AND NATURAL RESOURCES 
            4611 Tutu Park Mall  
 
              45 Mars Hill, Frederiksted 
            Suite 300, 2nd Floor 
                                       St. Croix, VI 00840 
            St. Thomas, VI  00802                                                       (340) 773-1082 
            (340) 774-3320   
 
                                                     
 
dpnr.vi.gov 
TO: 
Honorable Marise C. James, Esq. 
Chair, Committee on Disaster Recovery, Infrastructure and Planning 
36th Legislature of the United States Virgin Islands 
 
Other Committee Members 
 
FROM: 
 
 
 
 
 
Jean-Pierre L. Oriol 
Commissioner 
RE:  VINASSE 
There has been a lot of comments in the public about “vinasse” being toxic.  As such, I wanted 
to provide the Committee with some resources on vinasse.  According to the scientific journal 
ScienceDirect (Vinasse - an overview | ScienceDirect Topics), vinasse is defined as follows: 
 
Vinasse is the liquid residue from the distillation of the product of the alcoholic 
fermentation of cane juice, molasses, or the molasses–juice mixture.  Due to the suspension 
of organic and mineral solids, the vinasse presents high chemical oxygen demand and oxygen 
biochemistry, besides presenting low pH and high corrosive power, being therefore 
considered as a high polluting potential residue.  Produced in the order of 10–15 L per liter 
of ethanol, the main chemical constituents of the vinasse are potassium and sulfur; however, 
significant amounts of phosphorus, nitrogen, calcium, magnesium, and some micronutrients 
are found in it. 
 
The Department acknowledges that vinasse can have adverse environmental effects, 
particularly if it makes its way into rivers and/or oceans as it is oxygen depleting and would 
result in fish kills and the death of aquatic vegetation.  However, the agricultural industry 
itself solved this issue in the 1970s through a process called “fertigation” where vinasse is 
diluted and used as fertilizer due to its high potassium concentration and other mineral 
solids.  The vinasse is said to improve the physical conditions of the soil, thereby reducing the 
dependence on chemical fertilizers.  If the ratio of vinasse is incorrect, there could be adverse 
effects on the soil.  I would imagine the last thing the farmers would want to do to themselves 
is cause a degradation in the soil quality. Here is a link to the information as provided in the 
scientific journal, ScienceDirect – Vinasse - an overview | ScienceDirect Topics