Citing an ‘Imminent’ Health Threat, the EPA Orders Temporary Shut Down of St. Croix Oil Refinery
It is the most significant step the Biden administration has taken to uphold its environmental justice pledge since revoking a key permit at the refinery in March.
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The Environmental Protection Agency on Friday ordered a U.S. Virgin Islands oil refinery to shut down operations for 60 days, citing an “imminent risk to public health,” after the plant experienced a series of accidents that exposed residents to noxious fumes and poisoned their drinking water.
Management of the Limetree Bay refinery, located in St. Croix, had already suspended operations voluntarily on Wednesday after a fire broke out at the facility and a flaring event spewed droplets of oil into the air, covering homes and contaminating the drinking water in neighborhoods as far as seven miles away. It was the second instance of the refinery raining oil on residents since the facility r
An Alabama woman was arrested in the U.S. Virgin Islands for submitting a false, negative coronavirus test to the territory’s online travel portal.
Franketa A. Taylor of Birmingham faces charges of fraud for the alleged fib, the Virgin Islands Police Department said in a statement issued Thursday, per The Virgin Islands Daily News. Franketa A. Taylor of Birmingham faces charges of fraud for the fib, the Virgin Islands Police Department said. (Virgin Islands Police Department)
According to the local report, Taylor allegedly submitted an altered, negative COVID-19 test into the portal. The U.S. Virgin Islands Travel Screening Portal states that every person over the age of 5 who visits the islands (including during transit to another destination) must fill out the online forms and submit a negative test for the viral disease within five days of arrival.
Updated: 10:02 AM CDT Apr 26, 2021 WVTM 13 Digital A woman from Birmingham, Alabama was arrested in the U.S. Virgin Islands last week after she allegedly submitted an altered negative COVID-19 test result the online travel portal. Franketa Taylor, 41, is facing charges of fraudulent claims upon the government, access to a computer for fraudulent purposes, use of false information, and filing or recording forged instruments. According to the Virgin Islands Police Department, Taylor was booked into jail on a $5,500 bond and later turned over to the Bureau of Corrections pending her advice-of-rights hearing.Taylor is the seventh person to be charged with entering an altered or forged COVID-19 test in the travel portal, which is intended to screen incoming travelers for illness to prevent the spread of the virus, according to The Virgin Islands Daily News. Users of the online travel portal must acknowledge a statement that they could face prosecution if they know
A report by Andrea Milam for The Virgin Islands Daily News. The St. John Recovery Choir’s Quelbe and Reggae Revival Concert, set for Saturday at 7 p.m., has been a long time coming. The Caribbean culture-themed presentation was originally scheduled for last spring, when the territory and the world shut down in response…
Preliminary Reports
Conquest Down in Tennessee
Cessna 441, February 7, 2021, Winchester, Tennessee – A Cessna Conquest II crashed on approach to the Winchester, Tennessee, Municipal Airport, killing the airline transport pilot and commercial pilot on board. The IFR flight from the Thomasville, Georgia, Regional Airport checked in with Bowling Green Approach Control while descending to 4,000 feet msl and was cleared for the RNAV approach to Winchester’s Runway 36. Radar contact was lost as it descended through 2,300 feet, typical for coverage in that area. The controller’s attempt to contact the pilot three minutes later was unsuccessful, and after several hours the wreckage was found along a 500-foot debris path about six miles south of the airport. Both wings and most of the fuselage were consumed by a post-crash fire.