WAPA said Coast Guard linked Lindbergh Bay oil spill to Randolph Harley plant

Official document: https://www.viwapa.vi/docs/default-source/2023-pr/press-release-(11.17.23)-wapa-working-closely-with-us-coast-guard-to-mitigate-lindbergh-bay-oil-spill.pdf?sfvrsn=7aad6f89_3

Archive page: https://www.viwapa.vi/news-information/press-releases/press-release-details/2023/11/17/wapa-working-closely-with-us-coast-guard-to-mitigate-lind-bergh-bay-oil-spill

The Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority said on November 17, 2023, that a U.S. Coast Guard investigation had confirmed a correlation between an oil spill in Lindbergh Bay and WAPA’s Randolph Harley Power Plant on St. Thomas.

According to WAPA, analysis of oil samples indicated the presence of oil from a spill seven years earlier and suggested that the more recent spill, combined with heavy rainfall, contributed to the Lindbergh Bay incident.

WAPA said it was working with the Coast Guard and the Department of Planning and Natural Resources on a waterside cleanup along the eastern shore of Lindbergh Bay. The authority said containment measures had been put in place and that it would present a formal plan for oil removal and any long-term monitoring tied to the cleanup.