Scheduling the deposition of an oil refinery executive has proved slippery business, according to attorneys for Crucians claiming damages for homes sprayed with pollutants more than four years ago. Attorneys for the executive and the refinery’s current owner claim otherwise.

Oil refinery manager Fermin Rodriguez did not appear for a scheduled deposition Tuesday morning despite a federal judge’s order. After nearly a year of fruitless requests for Rodriguez to sit for legally-binding questions about the 2021 petroleum spray — following an attempted restart of the long-shuttered refinery — he has one more chance before possibly being found in contempt.

Rodriguez, a Port Hamilton Refining and Transportation employee, worked for former refinery owners, Limetree Bay, during the attempted restart.

Attorneys for the people with fouled cisterns told the court that, in January, Rodriguez’s attorney in Florida said the vice president and refinery manager was not available to speak until February, then May, then July — despite working a 15-minute drive from the proposed deposition site, the office of attorney Lee Rohn.

Matthew Ceradini, a North Carolina-based attorney representing Rodriguez as of Tuesday, said he thought the deposition date was Nov. 12. The Nov. 4 date was an attempt by Rohn to rush the process, he said.

“It depends on who you talk to,” Ceradini said. “The court has already issued an order saying that if he doesn’t show up today, then show up on the twelfth, which was the original plan.”

Magistrate Judge G. Alan Teague’s order, issued Monday, gave both dates, but was clear on what missing the next deposition date in Rohn’s office would mean.

“Failure to do so, may result in Rodriguez being held in contempt,” Teague ordered.

Ceradini would not confirm that Rodriguez would appear in Rohn’s office Nov. 12 but said the refinery manager was preparing for a deposition.

Christiansted attorney Andrew C. Simpson, who represents current refinery owner and Rodriguez’s current employer, Port Hamilton, told the Source he rejected any insinuation that Rodriguez had been avoiding the deposition. Although Port Hamilton did not exist as a company when the petroleum flare damaged homes, Simpson said he’d offered to assist Rodriguez with the deposition.

“ … I personally offered to facilitate the scheduling of Mr. Rodriguez’s deposition since he is Port Hamilton’s vice president of operations and refinery manager. I was told in no uncertain terms by the attorneys representing the plaintiffs that my assistance was not needed. I note that they did not inform the magistrate-judge of this offer. It appears that they seek chaos for some ulterior motive rather than the efficient scheduling of Mr. Rodriguez’s deposition,” Simpson said in a written statement. “Mr. Rodriguez has never refused to appear for his deposition and has always acted based upon the advice he has received from counsel.”

Simpson said Rodriguez had not been notified of a Nov. 4 deposition date. The order from Judge Teague was dated Nov. 3 and did allow for a secondary Nov. 12 deposition.

Simpson also said Rodriguez was not an actual Limetree Bay employee but a consultant with no decision-making responsibilities at the time of the oil spray.

Rodriguez had difficulty finding legal representation for the deposition because so many people allowed to practice law in the Virgin Islands had potential conflicts of interest with current or former refinery owners, plaintiffs, or associated parties, he said.

In early September, attorneys attempted to serve Rodriguez with a subpoena for a Sept. 18 deposition. This time, an assistant for Rodriguez’s attorney in Florida said the refinery manager was actually represented by Limetree Bay Refining attorneys. Limetree attorneys denied this in October, according to court records.

Rodriguez or his attorneys also asserted that he did not need to attend a deposition because he planned to invoke his Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination.

Judge Teague denied this claim, writing that Rodriguez could only invoke such rights on a question-by-question basis. Rodriguez may also have to explain why he believed his answers could be self-incriminating.

Rodriguez did not respond to an emailed request for comment.

The refinery, formerly known as Limetree Bay, has faced significant environmental and regulatory challenges in recent years, including an Environmental Protection Agency-mandated shutdown in 2021 after pollution incidents impacted surrounding communities. Port Hamilton acquired the facility later that year for $62 million at a bankruptcy auction. Since then, the company has been under EPA oversight to address safety and environmental concerns.

In 2022, Rodriguez said new refinery owner Port Hamilton was preparing for a safe restart. In 2024, however, after the EPA removed ammonia and toxic liquids from potentially unsafe containers, Port Hamilton representatives said there were no immediate plans for a restart.

In August, a federal judge ordered Limetree to release findings about the pollution incident gathered by Sedgwick Claims Management Services. Sedgwick was to assess complaints from St. Croix residents claiming their property, including cisterns, had been fouled by toxins, according to court records. That report was hidden away while Sedgwick attempted to collect a $1.1 million outstanding invoice from Limetree. The more than four-year-long argument included disagreement about which Limetree-associated entity even hired Sedgwick, according to court records.

The documents were not immediately released.

The records release was one of many contentious recent episodes for the long-troubled refinery. Even questions about who exactly owned the refinery caused consternation.

After the oil spray, Limetree officials agreed to distribute water to people who relied on cisterns fouled by the pollutants. The company later decided to fight water distribution in court for more than a year.