CHRISTIANSTED — One of the bidders for the bankrupt Limetree Bay refinery objected to the winning bid in court this week, arguing the new company, which said it wants to restart the Caribbean facility, really wants to liquidate its assets. Bankrupt Limetree Bay officially named St. Croix Energy LLLC the winning bidder on Wednesday in […]
Tag: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Limetree Refinery Closing To Cost USVI $1.8 Billion In Economic Activity, 800 Jobs
CHRISTIANSTED — The closure of the Limetree Bay refinery will cost the U.S. Virgin Islands nearly $2 billion in lost economic activity, $632 million in the USVI Gross Domestic Product, and 800 jobs, according to a report issued Tuesday by the Virgin Islands Bureau of Economic Research. The closure also would result in a $25 […]
St. Croix Refinery Bidders Face Hidden Environmental Costs – U.S. EPA letter
CHRISTIANSTED — Potential bidders for the bankrupt Limetree Bay refinery in the Virgin Islands may be on the hook for newly discovered groundwater contamination near the site and numerous other unspecified costs, according to a letter from environmental regulators reviewed by Reuters. Limetree is scheduled to be auctioned next month. The St. Croix facility reopened […]
Limetree Bay Refinery Decommissioning Will Take Months, Company Tells Court
CHRISTIANSTED — The process of decommissioning the shuttered Limetree Bay refinery will take several months, the company’s owner told a Texas bankruptcy court this week. Limetree Bay, which filed last month for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, has engaged investment bank Jefferies Financial Group Inc to run the sale of the St. Croix plant, likely in […]
Investors Balk As Bankrupt St. Croix Refinery Seeks $1 Billion To Be Viable
CHRISTIANSTED — The Limetree Bay refinery, which landed in U.S. bankruptcy court on Monday, needs at least $1 billion to finish a massive overhaul to continue as a viable operation, according to bankers, lawyers and restructuring specialists involved in the case, stacking the odds against the St. Croix facility resuming operations. The south shore-based refinery’s […]
EPA Updates Cleanup Plan for Tutu Wellfield Superfund Site In St. Thomas
CHARLOTTE AMALIE — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced today that it has proposed modifications to its 2018 cleanup plan at the Tutu Wellfield Superfund site on St. Thomas. Previous industrial and commercial activities at the site contaminated the soil and groundwater with chlorinated volatile organic compounds. EPA’s proposed action expands and enhances the […]
Feds Sue Limetree Bay In U.S. District Court Saying It Presents ‘Clear And Imminent’ Danger To Public Health, Environment
CHRISTIANSTED — The U.S. Department of Justice, on behalf of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), filed a complaint in federal court on Monday against Limetree Bay saying that the St. Croix petroleum refinery presents “an imminent and substantial danger to public health and the environment.” In a stipulation filed simultaneously with the complaint that […]
Limetree Bay Files For Bankruptcy Protection After EPA Forced Shutdown
CHRISTIANSTED — Once the largest in the western hemisphere, Limetree Bay oil refinery filed for bankruptcy protection for the second time in six years as federal authorities labeled it a danger to public health, dealing a blow to a private-equity investor and the territory’s struggling economy. The owners of the St. Croix refinery sought chapter […]
EPA Warns Limetree Bay That Its Shut Down Must Be Less Toxic Than Its Start Up
CHRISTIANSTED — The Environmental Protection Agency is pressuring owners of Limetree Bay oil refinery to get its approval for an orderly shutdown, calling into question the next steps for the process. Limetree Bay Energy refinery on St.Croix last week said it was preparing for an extended shutdown after failing to secure financing to continue a […]
Was Governor Bryan Caught Off Guard By Limetree Bay Plant Closing? He Denies It
CHRISTIANSTED — The Bryan-Roach Administration was caught off guard Monday by the harsh suddenness, labor fallout and economic reality of September’s planned shutdown of the Limetree Bay refinery on St. Croix. Governor Albert Bryan did not say that he was given a courtesy call in advance of the Limetree Bay shutdown — the lynchpin of […]