Refinery Cleanup Delayed By Ohio Train Derailment

Some of the equipment and crews needed to remove dangerous chemicals from St. Croix’s oil refinery are on island but others were delayed by the train derailment and chemical spill in Ohio, officials said Tuesday.

Although the shipping containers needed to remove the liquified petroleum gas and ammonia are in place at the refinery, the work has been delayed a month, with work now scheduled to start in early May, said Lisa Garcia, the Environmental Protection Agency’s regional administrator.

Port Hamilton, which owns the refinery, told the EPA the delay was because its contractor, Boise, ID-based U.S. Ecology, was part of the emergency response team cleaning up the East Palestine, OH derailment that released vinyl chloride, benzene, and other highly hazardous chemicals Feb. 3, Garcia said.

That same equipment, part of U.S. Ecology’s Specialized Response Solutions, was sent back to the company’s Texas offices March 1 to be prepared for shipment to St. Croix.

“That work has now ended but they need additional time to secure, service and ship their equipment that was used in

Ohio. This equipment is anticipated to arrive in St. Croix in mid-April,” she said during a second public briefing Tuesday night.

In December, the EPA ordered Port Hamilton to remove toxic chemicals stored at the refinery on St. Croix’s south shore. A September report found the plant was in dangerous state of disrepair.

The eight air monitoring stations are up and running, as is the real-time air monitoring website, Garcia said. The site has information on air quality and work underway in English, Spanish, and Haitian Creole.