Arclight Capital Partners, whose clients include NFL players, Maine teachers, and Mayo Clinic doctors, lost hundreds of millions of dollars betting on a St. Croix oil refinery, Reuters reports.

The Limetree Bay refinery was shut down for 60 days by the EPA last month after releasing a cloud of petroleum pollution that rained oil on nearby neighborhoods — for the second time since it reopened in February. The refinery was first shut down nearly 10 years ago after settling a multimillion-dollar lawsuit with the EPA for leaking more than 300,000 barrels of petrochemicals and polluting St. Croix’s only aquifer.

Linda Woods, a retired Maine school teacher, told Reuters she hopes the losses will “be a watershed moment” that pushes the state to limit oil and gas investments in the public pension plan. Last December and January, New York’s state pension fund and three of New York City’s largest employee pension funds, respectively, announced they will divest from companies that contribute to climate change in order to protect their funds’ long-term value.

https://cleantechnica.com/2021/06/04/big-private-equity-firm-lost-millions-investing-in-troubled-oil-refinery/amp/