“Extraordinary Harm Warrants Extraordinary Relief”: Third Circuit Affirms Injunctive Relief in Firm’s Ongoing Fight to Restore St. Croix Drinking Water

On August 5, 2024, the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit affirmed a district court’s injunction ordering Limetree Bay Terminals, now operating as Ocean Point Terminals, to provide residents of St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands—whose water supply was affected by several unpermitted air releases from Limetree Bay Refinery—with bottled water. Within three days of the long-idled refinery’s start up, the refinery contaminated thousands of residential properties in St. Croix with oil, including private cisterns used for household drinking, bathing, and washing. Read more on Law360, and click here for the Third Circuit’s opinion.

Last year, Fishman Haygood pursued preliminary injunctive relief against Limetree Bay Terminals, a co-permittee of the refinery with Limetree Bay Refining, in the form of providing clean and safe water to affected residents until the merits of the case are adjudicated. The proposed water program, which was based on the analysis of expert reports, models, and extensive data, was tailored to include residents within a defined area who were unable to afford water themselves.

The court granted the injunction, finding that, as a co-permittee with Limetree Bay Refining, not only was Limetree Bay Terminals responsible for the entire facility under the Clean Air Act (CAA) but also that the releases violated the CAA. Additionally, the court ruled in favor of the residents on trespass and nuisance claims against Limetree Bay Terminals. Read more about that April 2023 ruling here.

In response, Limetree Bay Terminals appealed. In the Third Circuit opinion, Judge Stephanos Bibas wrote on behalf of the unanimous three-judge panel that, “The district court tailored relief to ensure that only those irreparably harmed by the oil contamination would benefit… That thoughtful analysis was enough to confirm irreparable harm.”

The Fishman Haygood team in this case is led by Kerry Miller, Rebekka Veith, Hogan Paschal, and Carly McCleskey.

The trial team now seeks to hold accountable all involved in the fateful start-up of the refinery, including private equity heavyweights Arc-Light Capital Partners and EIG Global Energy Partners, in the damages portion of the case, so that affected residents may remediate their private cisterns and rely on those cisterns for safe, clean, potable water. Read more about the firm’s Environmental Practice here.