EPA Greenlights Plan to Remove 40,000 Gallons of LPG from St. Croix Refinery

EPA officials announced a federally supervised plan to remove over 40,000 gallons of LPG from the Port Hamilton Refining site using thermal oxidation, with full air monitoring and safety precautions in place throughout the 12-week operation.

The Environmental Protection Agency has approved a plan to safely remove liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) stored at the Port Hamilton Refining and Transportation facility on St. Croix.

EPA officials shared details during a community meeting on Tuesday evening. On-scene co-ordinator Chris Jiminez said that just over 40,000 gallons of LPG would be vaporized in batches, with that vapor subsequently destroyed in a thermal oxidation process.

“PHRT had applied for a permit for a temporary thermal oxidizer through DPNR, and that was approved in March,” noted Mr. Jiminez. “Prior to going through the thermal oxidizer, it will also go through carbon scrubbing,” he advised. That process will remove any harmful mercury present in the LPG vapors.

EPA officials and contractors will be on site and conducting air monitoring operations “during the entirety of the removal operation,” Mr. Jiminez assured. “We'll be on site when PHRT and their contractor sets up the equipment …for the destruction, we'll be there for the entirety of the actual removal operation…and then we'll again be there for the demobilization of all the equipment,” he continued. Apart from mercury, officials will be monitoring for carbon monoxide and hydrogen sulfide among other volatile organic compounds.