"Environmentalists say Trump’s EPA bent rules to speed its restart. Now, they want President Biden to address what they call a textbook case of environmental injustice."

"For years, Sonia Rivera and her husband have lived off the land, growing tomatoes, cucumbers, kale and other vegetables at their idyllic home in St. Croix, part of the U.S. Virgin Islands located just east of Puerto Rico and roughly a thousand miles from the shores of Florida. The only foods they buy from the store, she said, are sugar and flour.

In early February, their paradise became a nightmare.

A flaring incident at the massive Limetree Bay oil refinery sent a plume of steam into the air and covered more than 130 houses in the Clifton Hill neighborhood, including the Rivera’s home and garden, with specks of oil.

When workers contracted by the refinery’s owners stopped by her house a couple of days later and sprayed chemical dispersants to help clean up the oil, Rivera said she had to dig up and throw out her whole plot, including more than 50 pounds of food."

Kristoffer Tigue reports for Inside Climate News March 21, 2021. [2]