New Ocean Point Rule Barring Access to PHRT Employees Who Refuse to Sign Waiver is Challenged in Court

PHRT warns of severe damage to refinery and environment if Ocean Point bars employees who refuse to sign new access agreements

According to court documents, PHRT on Thursday filed a civil complaint against Ocean Point Terminals, the owner of the oil terminal and storage facility on St. Croix’s south shore. The lawsuit alleges that Ocean Point’s decision to require employees and contractors of PHRT to sign “individual access agreements” is illegal, and forces the workers to waive key legal rights. Among other things, the individual access agreement would absolve Ocean Point and the government of the Virgin Islands from liability in all claims except for those arising through “the sole gross negligence” of Ocean Point.

Failure to sign the agreement, PHRT claims, will result in refinery employees and contractors being denied access to the facility starting next Monday, January 1 2024. This eventuality would result in “severe damage to the refinery, terminal, personnel and the environment," according to PHRT’s lawsuit.

PHRT attorneys say that 22 of the 31 employees who work for main contractor Pinnacle Services have refused to sign Ocean Point’s individual access agreement, and eight more have said that they will reluctantly sign only to avoid losing their jobs. The language in the agreement has proven objectionable to at least two other contractors working for PHRT at the refinery.

Upon being notified of contractors’ reluctance and refusal to sign the agreement, an Ocean Point representative is alleged to have told Port Hamilton that the agreement was being put in place because of the money Port Hamilton reportedly owes. That matter is currently the subject of a lawsuit, which is currently wending its way through the local court system, and PHRT is disputing the sum owed, claiming that Ocean Point’s delays and obstruction have caused PHRT almost $4 million in damages. Despite the disputed sums, PHRT says that it remits $150,000 every week to Ocean Point to pay for the shared services it utilizes while the lawsuit works its way through court.