POLITICO Energy

EPA issues permitting hurdles for troubled U.S. Virgin Island refinery

Episode Summary

The Environmental Protection Agency announced on Thursday that a troubled oil refinery on St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands, which shut down last year after raining oil droplets on the island's majority-Black residents, may take years to meet new permitting requirements to restart operations. POLITICO’s Alex Guillén breaks down the backstory of the plant, what EPA says needs to be done before it can restart, and the Biden administration’s environmental justice concerns. Plus, the North American Electric Reliability Corporation says that the U.S. power grid faces 'unprecedented' reliability risks this winter.

Episode Notes

The Environmental Protection Agency announced on Thursday that a troubled oil refinery on St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands, which shut down last year after raining oil droplets on the island's majority-Black residents, may take years to meet new permitting requirements to restart operations. POLITICO’s Alex Guillén breaks down the backstory of the plant, what EPA says needs to be done before it can restart, and the Biden administration’s environmental justice concerns. Plus, the North American Electric Reliability Corporation says that the U.S. power grid faces 'unprecedented' reliability risks this winter. 

 

Josh Siegel is an energy reporter for POLITICO. 

Alex Guillén is an energy reporter for POLITICO Pro. 

Nirmal Mulaikal is a POLITICO audio host-producer.

Raghu Manavalan is a senior editor for POLITICO audio.

Jenny Ament is the executive producer of POLITICO’s audio department.