CHRISTIANSTED — After experiencing very heavy rainfall in a short period of time due to the passing of Tropical Storm Laura, the storm water handling pumps at the Limetree Bay Refinery failed early this morning, the South Shore refinery said in a prepared statement.
This resulted in an overflow from their contained storm water system into an open containment pond, according to Limetree Bay.
“The overflow contained quantities of oil along with the storm water,” Limetree Bay said. “The oil is contained in the holding pond but is resulting in odors. Efforts are underway to recover the oil.”
Additionally, there is a light sheen at the storm water outfall in the harbor which is contained by the permanent boom system, Limetree Bay said.
Limetree’s Emergency response team and NRC oil spill response organization was immediately deployed to maintain containment and recover the oil, according to Limetree Bay.
Limetree has notified all applicable regulatory agencies and will provide further updates as it responds to this incident, it said.
“Limetree Bay sincerely apologizes for the impact to the community and is working to ensure that all controls continue to be in place and to recover the oil as quickly as possible to minimize further impact to the public,” the refinery stated.