CHRISTIANSTED – Calling them a “serious risk to the surrounding community,” the Virgin Islands Port Authority is banning the storage of tanks used to transport petrochemicals at the Gallows Bay Marine Facility effective August 1, according to VIPA.

The ban applies to gasoline cylinders or tanks containing “petrochemicals, liquid propane or natural gas” and comes in the wake of Town Hall meeting held June 25 to protest the facility storing explosives in close proximity to residential housing.

“Operators berthing vessels at the facility with cargo and a maximum of three gas tanks will be allowed to unload and transfer the tanks from the vessels by trucks,” VIPA Executive Director Carlton Dowe said. “The tanks must be removed from the facility immediately. Staging of gas tanks at the Gallows Bay Marine Facility will be prohibited.”

The Port Authority has designated the Gordon A. Finch Molasses Pier on St. Croix’s south shore as the facility for staging of all gas tanks and the unloading of more than three tanks, Dowe said, adding that more fuel has had to be imported to the island since announced closing of the HOVENSA oil refinery in January 2012.