CUC, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Department of Transportation, and the projector contractor held last week the “kickoff meeting.”
The U.S. Department of the Interior awarded CUC a grant for the project.
“CUC ratepayers will not have to fund this EPA- and court-required project,” CUC said in a statement. “CUC is not for profit, and has no reserve fund, so it must pay for all its projects from the rates it charges consumers directly, unless it can obtain grant money or loans.”
It added that CUC will continue to work diligently to obtain grant funding and loans for all of its stipulated order required projects.
CUC said it selected the contractor, Smithbridge Guam Inc., through a competitive bid process.
In April 2010, CUC submitted request proposals for the re-design and replacement of the existing above-ground fuel transfer pipeline to Power Plants 1 and 2 in Lower Base.
Besides replacing the corroded existing pipeline, CUC said the new pipeline will feature “a stub-out to the port for direct tanker transfer and it will be installed underground.”
“The stub-out means that CUC will have another option for tanker delivery to the pipeline and the underground installation means protection from damage from traffic or a typhoon,” CUC explained.
During the design phase, CUC said the project was extensively reviewed by the utilities agency, the U.S. Department of Transportation Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration and EPA.
CUC said pipelines must be designed and constructed to allow for the passage of internal inspection/cleaning devices.
The new pipeline, once completed, will require periodic inspection and maintenance, CUC added.
The operators of the pipeline will require additional training and the pipeline will be operated and records maintained in line with the required codes and regulations, CUC said.
CUC recently hired a qualified, EPA-approved construction manager who has prior experience installing similar regulated DOT- PHMSA pipelines.
CUC said it will use a high pressure seamless carbon steel pipe for the project.
“In addition, an impressed current cathodic protection system with supplemental galvanic system has been included in the design for protecting the pipeline from corrosion,” CUC said.
The existing pipeline was built in early 1990 and is heavily rusted and in danger of failing under pressure, CUC said, adding that it has had a history of leaks, due to the premature corrosion.
CUC said the construction of the replacement of the existing 8-inch petroleum pipeline with a new 8-inch underground pipeline from the Mobil Oil Bulk Plant to the CUC power plant will require approximately 5,282 feet of pipe.
The construction project will include trenching, valves, pits, pipe jacket, pipe crossing, pipe pigging, cathodic protection, demolition and disposal of old pipeline, and restoration of affected areas, CUC said.
CUC said project materials will be ordered as soon as they are approved while fabrication and site work is expected to start in Jan. 2012.
