Court orders Ocean Point to continue bottled water program

Ocean Point Terminals must continue providing bottled water to indigent residents affected by the 2021 refinery accidents on St. Croix, which spewed oil over surrounding homes, according to an opinion of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

“Extraordinary harm warrants extraordinary relief,” according to the opinion filed Monday, and the company must continue providing water to qualified residents while their class action lawsuit is pending.

In April 2023, U.S. District Court Judge Wilma Lewis ordered Limetree Bay Terminals, which now does business as Ocean Point, to provide safe drinking water to vulnerable residents whose cisterns were contaminated by oil.

While the Terminals technically split from the refinery operation, Lewis found that the Terminals “had a duty to ensure that the refinery, as a whole, complied with the Clean Air Act and the requirements imposed by the Title V Permit.”READ MORE: