Page 5 - LatAmOil Week 19 2021

LatAmOil COMMENTARY LatAmOil

Limetree Bay Ventures responded to the blaze head of the agency, said in a Twitter post earlier
by carrying out an emergency burn of feedstocks this week: “The repeated incidents at the [Lime-
in order to prevent further problems. In doing tree Bay] refinery are unacceptable. EPA has a
so, it followed procedure. But it also caused toxic team on St. Croix and is committed to taking all
droplets to fall upon residential and industrial necessary action to ensure people’s health and
areas near the plant, and as usual, this triggered safety is protected.”
worries about residents’ health, safety and access
to water. (It also led the company to suspend Push and pull
operations.) It remains to be seen what form that action
Under these circumstances, the fact that that might take, in the event that Limetree Bay Ven-
the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) tures experiences more problems. Whatever the
withdrew a federal permit that had previously case, though, the EPA is not the only party inter-
been granted to Limetree Bay Ventures in March ested in the plant’s fate.
is hardly surprising. The plant’s environmental Activist groups such as the St. Croix Envi-
record is less than stellar, and the administration ronmental Association are probably hoping to
of President Joe Biden has indicated that it will see the EPA order the closure of the oil refinery.
scrutinise the oil and gas industry more carefully Jennifer Valiulis, the director of the association, The EPA is not
than its predecessor, which was led by Donald said earlier this week that US authorities ought
Trump. to step up efforts to bring the plant into compli- the only party
Nevertheless, the scrutiny has not resulted ance with the law.
in forced closure. Although its refinery is cur- “Lately we are seeing incidents happening interested in the
rently idle, Limetree Bay Ventures has kept try- nearly daily with this refinery: Fires, flares,
ing to work towards resuming full commercial spills, noxious emissions, oil raining down into Limetree Bay
production. It has also tried to mend fences by neighborhoods,” she said in an email message to refinery’s fate
distributing water to affected homes. the Washington Post. “Each one of these events
The company will have to do more, however. has impacted our community and disastrous
The US Virgin Islands Department of Planning ways – severe illness, loss of food, loss of drink-
and Natural Resources (DPNR) determined ing water. At some point, we need to say that
earlier this month that the plant was emitting enough is enough and demand accountability
excess sulphur dioxide as a result of the burning from Limetree.”
of hydrogen sulphide. Yet local authorities are taking a different
approach. Albert Bryan Jr., the governor of the
More scrutiny US Virgin Islands, has tempered his expressions
This ruling, in turn, drew more unwelcome of concerns with statements expressing his inter-
attention from the EPA, which recently est in seeing the plant come back online. “Lieu-
informed Limetree Bay Ventures that the refin- tenant Governor [Tregenza] Roach and I both
ery was in violation of the Clean Air Act. have been in contact with the executive team at
The agency not only demanded that the Limetree Bay and have expressed our concern
company begin checking emissions of sulphur and frustration with the recent releases that have
dioxide and hydrogen sulphide but also sent threatened the health and safety of the residents
monitoring equipment to the island. Limetree downwind of the refinery and urged Limetree
Bay Ventures responded by saying it was ready to step up its efforts to guarantee the safety of
to monitor emissions on a voluntary basis, but its employees and the residents downwind from
as of May 12 it had not yet begun doing so. the refinery,” he said. “It is my sincere hope that
(According to a Reuters reports, the EPA moni- they can rectify whatever the issues are and
toring equipment is not yet operational.) resume operations in a manner that protects the
EPA officials have hinted that they are will- health and well-being of its employees and the
ing to take further action. As Michael Regan, the residents of our community.” ™

(Photo: Limetree Bay Ventures)

Week 19 13•May•2021 www. NEWSBASE .com P5