Threat Against Richmond WAPA’s Power Plant On St. Croix Prompts Evacuation

ST. CROIX — Executive Director of the Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority, Julio A. Rhymer, Sr. confirmed Thursday an incident at the Estate Richmond Power Plant on St. Croix where a threat was made against the power plant, WAPA made known via press release late Thursday.

“WAPA Safety Division personnel were advised at about 1:45 p.m. that a threat had been made against the power plant requiring the activation of the authority’s emergency response plan and a subsequent evacuation of personnel from both the power plant and the adjacent LPG terminal,” Mr. Rhymer said.

Any and all threats against the power plants and any of WAPA’s facilities are taken very seriously and in light of the nature of the threat, he said appropriate law enforcement agencies and emergency responders were contacted.

“As part of the response, police officers led a thorough sweep of the Estate Richmond power plant before an all clear was given around 4:25 p.m. for personnel to return to their workstations,” Mr. Rhymer said. The power plant functioned normally during the evacuation period and electrical power was not interrupted to WAPA’s customers.

Mr. Rhymer said the threat against the power plant remains under investigation by both local and federal authorities.