HOVENSA

Legal Intervention Supports EPA Permit Requirements for St. Croix Refinery

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, February 15, 2023

SOUTH ROYALTON, Vt., Feb. 15, 2023 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- On Monday, Feb. 13, the Environmental Justice Clinic (EJC) at Vermont Law and Graduate School filed a motion to intervene in a case in the United States 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals concerning permits for a shuttered oil refinery in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Key Points: 
  • The EJC supports the EPA's determination which requires a Prevention of Serious Deterioration (PSD) permit requiring the applicant to install the best available control technology.
  • In May 2021 the EPA used emergency measures to shut down the refinery and reversed its 2018 decision to not require a PSD permit.
  • The EPA is finally taking the risks posed by this facility seriously, and we need to stop the company from starting up that dirty refinery without a new permit."
  • The EPA now considers the refinery a new, stationary source of pollution and as such requires a PSD permit from Port Hamilton.