Tomorrow, Senator Whitaker will be Special Ordering the Bill Request Repeal BR22-1146 at Senate session tomorrow. 

Email and call your Senators now and ask them to support this Bill!
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Please modify and send a version of this letter: 

Since the town hall meeting on August 8, the community has continued to stay dedicated to the Revoke and Repeal message regarding Raising Cane Distillery on the west side of St. Croix. We have successfully persuaded Mr. Apfel to reduce the scope of the distillation equipment down to a juicing machine just prior to the BLUA hearing on Friday, August 25. 

While at the moment this seems a strong win for our community, there are still major concerns with the existing and future plans of Prosperity Farm and ALL Agricultural lands in the Virgin Islands. 

Senator Whitaker has sponsored Bill Request Repeal BR22-1146 to repeal the non-germane amendment that Senator Vialet slipped into the long awaited bill supporting the RT Park. That amendment that changed the zoning code without public notice or input, needs to be repealed. While Senator Vialet is hoping to amend the previous amendment to add stipulations, the neighborhood group (and the overwhelming response from the community) is to instead, repeal the amendment altogether, as Senator Whitaker is proposing. 

Can we count on you to vote yes on Senator Whitaker’s bill to repeal the amendment with Bill BR22-1146 when it is introduced as early as tomorrow Tuesday, August 30? 

This is the latest version of the environmental study Amanda Sackey started working on in 2019 about Prosperity Farm, a.k.a. Raising Cane and how their operations have affected the neighbors and used chemicals that are very dangerous both to people and the environment. As I think you’re already aware and according to what we were told by DPNR, Raising Cane cleared mangrove wetlands in direct violation of the CZM codes. Even though DPNR knows that this happened, DPNR didn’t issue any fines and has continued to issue more permits. 

Please do let us know where you stand and feel free to ask for more information. In addition to the study we have a lot of documentation on what has occurred as well as what we’re working for. Our Revoke and Repeal Facebook group is a great place to hear many different community voices. 

Lastly, it is important to note that the neighborhood group wants to support sustainable economic opportunities that will reduce poverty and elevate the quality of life for all of us.  We don’t want to trade some new jobs at the expense of established jobs. For example, we don’t want a polluting industry on the west coast of St. Croix that would bring jobs while damaging the coral reefs and impacting the existing jobs of the scuba diving industry. And we want jobs that help keep people healthy. We know that jobs and quality of life here are dependent upon a clean and healthy environment everyone can enjoy.