No Explosion at WAPA Power Plant, But Loud Boom Prompts Evacuation

Employees evacuated as a safety measure following extremely loud sound at Randolph Harley Power Plant

The loud boom heard across the V.I. Water and Power Authority's Randolph Harley Power Plant in St. Thomas on Thursday, which led to the evacuation of WAPA employees and other personnel, was not an explosion as some inside WAPA had originally thought.

Instead, according to WAPA spokesperson Shanell Petersen, the loud sound was the activation of what is called a rupture disk, which Ms. Petersen says activates when it senses harm to critical systems.