The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency told the new owners of the former Limetree Bay refinery on St. Croix it has information suggesting the refinery must obtain a prevention of significant deterioration permit before the refinery restarts operations.
A letter was sent by the EPA to the new owners, West Indies Petroleum Limited and Port Hamilton Refining and Transportation, asking for more information about past and future changes at the refinery to processes and emission units, according to a March 22 EPA release.
“As EPA continues to obtain additional information to reach a final decision on the need for this particular permit, we remain committed to ensuring that any potential restart of this facility would occur safely and in accordance with environmental laws,” Lisa Garcia, EPA regional administrator, said.
Garcia said the refinery previously endangered the health of the people in surrounding communities, according to the release. Given that, the agency will review the information requested from the new owners and any new plans before making a decision on the next steps in the permitting process.
Those steps include a final decision on the need for a prevention of significant deterioration permit, the release said.
