EPA sends Virgin Islands oil refinery a violation notice

The EPA said Monday that Limetree Bay Refining was served with the notice because the company did not operate five monitoring stations to gauge the air quality around its plant, a major source of harmful greenhouse gas emissions. The company also did not operate a meteorological tower.

"A major source of air pollution, such as Limetree Bay, is subject to controls under its air permits," the agency said in a statement.

"Limetree Bay may be liable for civil penalties and required to take actions to correct the violations," the statement said. The company has 30 days to request a video conference to discuss or contest the notice of violation.

In a statement Monday, the company contested EPA's allegations.

"We strongly disagree with the claim that we are in violation of any ambient air monitoring requirement," it said. "The former refinery operator was required to perform area monitoring, but that requirement was linked exclusively to their burning of sulfur-containing residual fuel oil, which Limetree Bay does not do."

The plant's previous owner, Hovensa, stopped operating five sulfur dioxide monitoring stations when it shut down in 2012 in the wake of financial problems and a multimillion-dollar settlement with the EPA over environmental violations. At the time, according to the notice, Hovensa pledged to reactivate the monitors if it restarted.

A Limetree employee informed the EPA on Feb. 16 - more than two weeks after the plant started running again - that it was not operating the air monitors, the notice added.

Short-term exposures to high levels of sulfur dioxide can damage the human respiratory system. People with asthma, especially children, are vulnerable.

"EPA issued this notice of violation to protect the people who live near and work at this refinery, and we have also deployed a team of experts to St. Croix and are working to assess Limetree Bay's compliance with environmental laws," said Walter Mugdan, the acting chief of EPA Region 2, which oversees the U.S. Virgin Islands.

In conjunction with the U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Planning and Natural Resources and the U.S. Virgin Department of Health, the EPA is investigating the extent of the release of gas, its composition, duration and causes.

The EPA also ordered inspections of the facility "over the course of the coming months" to focus on compliance with various environmental statutes.

"Limetree Bay is in a community predominantly made up of people of color and low-income populations who are already disproportionately affected by environmental burdens," the statement said. "These disproportionate burdens present environmental justice concerns, which are a priority for EPA."

Within days after reopening this year, a pressure-release valve sent on Feb. 4 a fine mist of oil and water over hundreds of homes that neighbor the facility. The mist rained oil onto rooftops, home gardens, car hoods and cisterns that residents rely on for drinking and washing.

Less than two months later, it emitted sulfuric gases that led some schools and a coronavirus vaccination site to close. One resident, Sonya Rivera, said "a foul, funky smell" descended over her home. Others said a stench of rotten eggs or sewage lingered for more than a week.

In its statement, the EPA said it relies on refineries to measure sulfur dioxide in the atmosphere so it can better control a population's exposure to the gas.