EPA requires Limetree Bay to install air monitors
After being suspended last month for facing a series of serious complaints about polluted air and water supply in the nearby community, Limetree Bay refinery must now meet the requirement of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to install air monitors in the island.
In a report by Reuters, EPA said on Thursday that the Caribbean refinery needs to install 18 air monitors in St. Croix, which includes nine hydrogen sulfide and nine sulfur dioxide monitors. These must be installed within 15 days.
The EPA has insisted that five of the sulfur dioxide monitors are already required by its pre-existing permit. In the beginning, Limetree was adamant about the requirement, saying that it does not apply, though it did agree to resume operating the sulfur dioxide monitors.
Reuters has exclusively reported the same monitors were not operating in March.
The 200,000-barrel-per-day Limetree Bay refinery restarted operations this year after idling for about a decade. But its operations were delayed many times because of malfunctions with its refinery equipment. When it finally reopened this year, residents have incessantly complained about breathing problems and headaches.
Since May, Limetree has been facing four class actions from “hundreds of St. Croix residents seeking compensation for property damages and medical monitoring,” Reuters further reported. Schools have been temporarily shut down and students were sent home to avoid further exposure from polluted air.
According to EPA, even short-term exposure to elevated levels of sulfur dioxide can harm the human respiratory system and make breathing a challenge.
EIG, the private equity group that backs Limetree Bay refinery, could not immediately be reached for comment.
The EPA recognizes the economic importance of Limetree, which employed 400 people on an island that is primarily reliant on tourism for jobs. However, “addressing environmental justice issues is a priority for EPA,” said EPA acting Regional Administrator Walter Mugdan in a statement.