Posted on 11/18/2022 5:21:36 PM PST by george76
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Thursday announced that a large idled refinery in the U.S. Virgin Islands will remain shut down until it acquires a new Clean Air Act permit amid a national diesel shortage.
The St. Croix refinery, owned by West Indies Petroleum Limited and Port Hamilton Refining and Transportation, LLLC, has been shut down since June 2021 and will have to obtain a Prevention of Significant Deterioration permit which would require the operators to provide detailed air quality analyses and use sophisticated air pollution control technology, according to the EPA press release. At the same time, the U.S. only has 26 days of diesel remaining in its commercial inventories and a gallon of diesel is roughly $1.58 more expensive than it was in November 2021, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA).
The refinery, which was once one of the largest refineries in the world, used to be able to process 600,000 barrels of crude oil per day into gasoline and heating oil, a form of diesel, according to Bloomberg. The price of heating oil was 65% higher in October 2022 than it was in October 2021, meaning that Americans in the Northeast of the country will pay significantly more to keep their homes warm during the cold winter months, according to the EIA.
The Biden administration is also mulling a plan that would force oil companies to store a minimum amount of diesel in their fuel tanks, which could potentially exacerbate prices, Bloomberg reported Tuesday.
“I am committed to prioritizing the health and safety of underserved and overburdened communities across this country and holding polluters accountable,” EPA Administration Michael Regan said, according to the announcement. “This will ensure protections for St. Croix by requiring the refinery to operate in compliance with environmental laws designed to protect people’s health and the environment.”
The EPA pulled the refinery’s operating permit in June 2021 after nearby residents complained that they were becoming sick from the facility’s fumes, forcing the previous operator to lay off its workers and sell the plant, according to Reuters.
In late October, EPA inspectors said that the facility could catch on fire or release “extremely hazardous substances” which could harm St. Croix residents, according to an agency report. The agency also found “significant corrosion” on valves, pipes and other equipment at the site, according to an October letter sent to the owners’ lawyers.
President Joe Biden has accused fuel producers of “war profiteering” by refusing to increase refining capacity amid global fuel shortages that were exacerbated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. However, in June, Biden’s EPA rescinded exemptions that would have allowed nearly 70 small-volume refiners to avoid blending renewable biofuels into diesel despite the fact that refiners claimed that this would hike costs and decrease output, according to an agency docket.
Companies in the U.S. have also not built a major oil refinery in 50 years due to regulatory concerns and anticipation that the green transition will kill demand for fossil fuels. Energy executives believe that the administration’s negative attitude towards the industry is dampening investment, according to a June survey conducted by the Dallas Federal Reserve.
Of course he did. Obama’s creep team tells him what to do and Biden gets the blame while the thin-skinned one looks out of his mansion on Martha’s Vineyard knowing the US is in terrible hands.
Maybe Obama is one of the armed bank robbers that robbed the bank yesterday on The Vineyard.
.
And yet people still vote Democrat. How bad does it have to get before people wake up?
Not surprised.
The end of “fossil” fuels is the end of food, and Brandon promised on multiple occasions to end “fossil” fuels.
I drove past this place several times about 3 weeks ago. It’s YUGE. Not a person could be seen on the grounds. Totally idle and looks like it is starting to deteriorate.
Is there some way to ‘process’ human corpses to produce Jet Fuel?
Those WEF folks still need to fly to the meetings.
They think they can force America to scrap their ICE cars and go EV. And we all live happily ever after.
I guess we all need to be starving with our children and freezing to death before something is done
Big guy’s gotta get his 10% cut dontcha know. And WTH is a Prevention of Significant Deterioration permit?
A demented stinking communist bastard surrounded by hundreds of stinking communist bastards who control his every move......
So bad that their Stupids will run to the Party leadership, crying, and howl for them to 'make it better!'
Of course, all the deplorables will have to be eliminated, since it's trump's fault, but, hey, there are too many on the planet as it is.
8 billion, as of day before yesterday. 500 million is the presumed "sustainable" maximum, so 7.5 billion will have to be "disposed of" thru "attrition." The usuals, atomic war, starvation, disease...
I suppose the deplorables will get all whiney about it, but it's for their own good.
The Brandon administration’s idiotic approach to energy markets is mind boggling.
When they stop watching shows like the View. Stop watching Bill Maher, late night shows and the MSM.
“Maybe Obama is one of the armed bank robbers that robbed the bank yesterday on The Vineyard”.
The Bosses don’t personally go out on robberies. Obama organizes it all.
oh man..what a dumbazz
No. He is not dumb at all. You are who is dumb. He knows full what he is doing. You do not know what he is doing. He is destroying America. And is succeeding. He knows this. You do not. He does not want a Major Oil Refinery to be built. He is evil and wicked but far from dumb. And what is worse, his followers and worshipers are Legion.
Not idiotic...It is deliberate.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.