Far from White House, Caribbean refinery to test Biden's promises on poverty and pollution

An abandoned parking lot is seen outside the installations of the Hovensa petroleum refinery in St Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands June 28, 2017. REUTERS/Alvin Baez

(Reuters) - Earlier this month, Loren Hughes, a longtime resident of the U.S. Virgin Islands, noticed specks of an oily substance covering his home, as well as those owned by his neighbors.

For Hughes, 46, it brought back memories of the last time St. Croix's long-idled refinery was operating, roughly a decade earlier. The refinery restarted last month, bringing back hundreds of jobs - but for nearby residents, they say it also brought difficulty breathing, headaches and watery eyes.