The chairwoman of the committee, Rep. Tina Sablan, said on Friday that the stipulated orders are still with the federal court.
“The comment period ended on Feb. 5 and the U.S. Department of Justice is still reviewing the comments,” she said. “The likelihood of the orders changing is small.”
Sablan, in the comments she submitted to the justice department, described CUC as a “grossly dysfunctional, extremely politicized, frequently noncompliant, and generally mismanaged entity” that must be placed under federal receivership.
In an interview, she said CUC is trying to comply with the stipulated orders.
“They brought in technical people like Bruce to ensure that they comply, and I was told that they’re making some progress in certain areas,” said Sablan, Ind.-Saipan.
“But there are still major areas of concern and funding, which is required to address them, will be a problem.”
Last November, the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency filed two stipulated orders in federal court, “seeking to reform and bring into compliance [CUC’s] wastewater plants and collection systems, public drinking water systems, five power plants and an oil transfer pipeline.”
According to the EPA, the first order requires CUC to comply with its water discharge permits for the Agingan and Sadog Tasi wastewater plants and to implement changes to prevent sewer overflows. It also requires CUC to achieve compliance in its drinking water systems, which currently present a health risk to the public.
The second order, the EPA stated, requires CUC to prevent oil spills at its power plants and pipeline, to comply with oil spill regulations, prepare to respond to oil spills, and provide appropriate cleanup for past and future oil spills.
Failure to meet these requirements will subject CUC to stipulated penalties.
The EPA found that CUC, from 2000 to 2008, repeatedly discharged wastewater from its sewage treatment plants in violation of permit limits and failed to monitor its wastewater.
CUC has also been discharging treated and untreated wastewater from the Agingan and Sadog Tasi plants without permits after their permits expired.
Its failure to operate the plants properly has resulted in sewer overflows, in violation of the Clean Water Act.
CUC also violated three separate EPA administrative orders governing operation of the plants.
