A District Court judge has detailed how former oil refinery owners are to distribute free water to St. Croix residents whose homes were sprayed with toxins in 2021.
Limetree Bay Terminals must pay for and distribute water to people whose cisterns were fouled by the refinery’s emissions, Judge Wilma Lewis ruled in May. On Thursday, she outlined that eligible residents must have lived in one of the affected areas, rely on cistern water, and attest that buying water would be a hardship.
To receive water assistance, residents need to complete a Water Distribution Program Claim form, swearing they relied on cistern water and lived in Adventure, Betty’s Hope, Cane, Cain Carlton, Campo Rico, Carlton North, Carlton South, Carlton, Clifton Hill, Concordia, Diamond, Enfield Green, Envy, Frederiksted, Golden Grove, Good Hope, Hannah’s Rest, Hesselberg, Hogensborg, La Grange, Mannings Bay, Mount Pleasant, Negro Bay, Paradise, Ruans Bay, Sandy Point, Smithfield, Stony Ground, Two Brothers, Upper Bethlehem, Wheel of Fortune/Mars Hill, Whim, Whites Bay, or Williams Delight. They also must attest that they cannot afford to purchase water without trading off other basic necessities.
The order required lawyers for the plaintiffs and Limetree officials to appoint a program administrator — paid for by Limetree — and set up a website to facilitate claims and distribution. Eligible residents could apply through the website, through the mail, by email, or bring their completed form to the Limetree Distribution Center. They could also apply via their attorney or one of three designated on island: Lee Rohn and Associates, Colianni and Leonard, or Dema Law, all in Christiansted.
Two weeks after an administrator is chosen, eligible St. Croix residents can start getting free water, according to court records.
Eligible Crucians could collect water at the Limetree Distribution Center from 2 p.m. to 9 p.m., Monday through Saturday; at the Sunshine Mall Distribution Center from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday, Wednesday, and Friday; and at the Frederiksted Ball Park Distribution Center from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, according to the court order.
“Each Eligible Resident is entitled to up to twelve (12) gallons of water per day per household, with a maximum amount per household of eighty-four (84) gallons of water per week,” Judge Lewis ordered.
Limetree, now called Ocean Point Terminals, had argued that the refinery alone was responsible for the discharges that began when production resumed at the long-shuttered plant in February 2021 and again in April and May that year. Limetree Bay Refining was subsequently shut down by the EPA that May and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection two months later. It was sold to Port Hamilton Refining and Transportation at auction in December 2021.
The oil spray contained a cocktail of toxic hydrocarbons, including petroleum coke, residual fuel oil, naphtha, intermediate distillates, and decant oil, according to reports at the time. According to Material Safety Data Sheets, exposure can cause irritation to the skin, dermatitis, irritation to the nose, throat, mouth, lungs, stomach, and intestines; nausea; vomiting; diarrhea; restlessness, and harm to the central nervous system.
As a result of the flare incidents, the refinery had established a water program for some 20,000 residents whose cisterns and homes were affected, but according to court records, it ended in September 2022 when the bankruptcy ended.
