St. Croix melee

There are lots of issues out there so i've decided to write about diverse topics in small doses.

Refinery on St. Croix everyone is aware that the Senator's voted against the deal with Hovensa but the melee on the local radio and the fear mongering in the community has gotten out of hand. Here is my take for what it is worth.

1. Aquifer pollution...if you go to the EPA site and read the report 95% of the contamination has already been cleaned up. No one is drinking ¼ cup of oil in their water.
2. Sale of the refinery...the cancelled agreement put off the inevitable. Hovensa didn't want to sell but was being forced to by the agreement. Legally, they could not be forced to accept any offer and i think they would have stalled until the 18 months were up which would put us back to where we are today.
3. WAPA and some gas stations are already making arrangements to get their fuel from other sources. Puerto Rico is ninety miles away... our fuel costs may go up but we will be able to get fuel delivered here just like all the other islands in the Caribbean do.
4. Jet Fuel i know one of our local purveyor's supplies jet fuel to planes flying in. His business is going to be adversely affected by the plant closure just as many others have been.  But maybe if he wants to stay in business he needs to invest in building more storage tanks.  The sky isn't falling. Planes can refuel in Puerto Rico. We may be impacted by fewer flights and less available jet fuel but keep in mind it is available just a short hop away.  The sooner those doing business in the aviation world start thinking for themselves the sooner we can move forward.
5. The refinery is not reopening and the sooner we deal with this...like they did in Aruba...the sooner we will be on the road to recovery.

Syria i'm with Juan Cole...a few Tomahawk missile strikes will not affect the course of the civil war in Syria and it just may involve us in one more quagmire. Civilians are going to continue to suffer until the parties involved are brought to the bargaining table.

The Rim Fire in California has been raging for over a week. Close family members and some friends have been suffering smoky skies and evacuation orders. One of the leading edges is 6 miles from the family cabin and all eyes are watching this monstrous fire. Its 23% contained and the fire fighters have been doing a phenomenal job.

Swimming this morning was beautiful. A little Green turtle floated right up to me and let me touch its carapace. The light was flickering everywhere and you could see Peacock Flounders 40 feet down. A huge Lobster was out of its hole and walking across the coral towards another Green turtle who tried to hide when she saw us hovering above. We missed the three Dolphin who were swimming through the bay but one fellow swimmer enjoyed watching them pass by. It was one of those mornings when you just didn't want to get out of the water.

See ya next week.