As Attorney General of the United States Virgin Islands, one of my tasks is to offer the executive branch legal advice in the form of Attorney General Opinions. Recently Government House asked me to provide a legal opinion concerning the applicability of statutory deadlines to contingent coastal zone permits that require approval from the Federal Government. Following the Justice Department’s usual practice, the resulting opinion was researched and drafted by an experienced attorney in DOJ’s Solicitor General’s Division, reviewed by the Solicitor General, and then reviewed by me before being issued and forwarded to Government House.
Several articles and editorials have criticized that opinion, especially as it relates to the Summer’s End permit, claiming it was influenced by political pressure from Government House, “weaponization” of the Justice Department, and bias favoring rampant development at the expense of environmental concerns. None of these criticisms have any basis in fact.
My job as Attorney General is to issue legal opinions that correctly interpret the law. At no time has anyone from Government House suggested or implied what my conclusions should be. I take very seriously my responsibility to fairly and accurately render legal opinions, irrespective of the consequences when they are applied to specific facts. The law is the law. My objective is to state it clearly and correctly and let the chips fall where they may. And if my legal opinion contributes to results which some citizens dislike, they are free to litigate the matter in court.
The assertion that my opinion reflects a lack of concern about environmental harm is equally spurious. I have been a practicing member of the Virgin Islands bar for over 40 years. During the 1980’s and 90’s, the bulk of my practice involved representing workers injured from exposure to toxins at the workplace, including asbestos, heavy metal catalysts, isocyanate paints, and bauxite residue. I and other local attorneys brought successful litigation to end groundwater contamination on St. Croix at the Hess/HOVIC refinery and by gasoline companies at the Tutu Aquifer on St. Thomas. I was also co-counsel representing New Jersey and Puerto Rico in environmental litigation against major oil companies for contaminating groundwater resources and successfully tried a case on St. Thomas against a major cigarette manufacturer who had caused widespread suffering and death through its program to addict children to nicotine. That case resulted in the largest civil jury verdict ever rendered in the Virgin Islands.
As my background demonstrates, I have devoted much of my life to protecting the environment and advancing public health. To suggest that I favor big businesses over public health and the environment is flatly wrong. My goal is to correctly interpret the law. If you don’t like the law, work to change it, but don’t shoot the messenger who informs you about what the law says.
— V.I. Attorney General Gordon Rhea
Editor’s Note: Opinion articles do not represent the views of the Virgin Islands Source newsroom and are the sole expressed opinion of the writer. Submissions can be made to visource@gmail.com.
