A federal judge Thursday ordered the release of previously withheld documents about how many homes were sprayed by toxins from St. Croix’s refinery in 2021 and the extent of the damage, according to court records.
Limetree Bay Terminals and associated companies attempted to restart the dormant petroleum refinery in early 2021, causing the release of airborne oil. By May of that year, Limetree hired Sedgwick Claims Management Services to assess complaints from St. Croix residents claiming their property, including cisterns, had been fouled by the toxins, according to court records.
That report was hidden away while Sedgwick attempted to collect a $1.1 million outstanding invoice from Limetree. The more than four-year-long argument included disagreement about which Limetree-associated entity even hired Sedgwick, according to court records.
On Thursday, however, U.S. Magistrate Judge Emile A. Henderson III ordered Sedgwick to release the findings crucial to lawsuits against Limetree, which had surrendered the refinery in a June 2021 bankruptcy.
Sedgwick must turn the documents over to Crucians who have sued for damages by Aug. 18, Henderson ordered. In a twist, however, the plaintiffs were ordered to pay $25,000 to offset a portion of Sedgwick’s unpaid claim against Limetree.
Shortly after the early 2021 oil-release incidents, Limetree sought to both minimize the spray’s reach and emphasize the company’s response. In a June 2021 court filing, Jeffrey Charles, Limetree Terminal’s vice president and incident commander, said, “On or about May 12, 2021 an incident occurred at the Limetree facility in St Croix, USVI which caused very small amounts of oil to disperse in certain areas downwind of Limetree.”
He said Sedgwick was hired the next day — the same day the Environmental Protection Agency ordered the refinery closed for 60 days.
And by June 10, “ … Limetree has washed over 700 cars arranged for thousands of roofs Cisterns, exterior walls, and other structures to be washed and has delivered over 16,000 cases of water to affected residents,” Charles said in a court filing.
Limetree would later argue delivering water to people with oily-cistern claims was too much of a financial burden. Several court rulings disagreed.
In September 2024, Limetree sought $44,000 from an oily-cistern claimant, successfully arguing that a law bringing the elderly man’s case to court quickly was unconstitutional.
The refinery encountered numerous problems during its brief restart in February 2021. It had been largely shuttered since 2012 by former owner Hovensa following several years of heavy losses. Hovensa declared bankruptcy in 2015. Limetree had hoped to take advantage of a brief period when sulfur regulations for maritime shipping fuel were changing. The refinery was originally slated to reopen before January 2020, but started its aborted run a year later. By then, worldwide shipping had slumped from the COVID pandemic.
