Red flag at 1 Saipan site; green flag on Rota
(BECQ) — The Bureau of Environmental and Coastal Quality analyzed water samples collected from Saipan’s east and south recreational beaches this week.
Samples collected from the following location contained excessive concentrations of fecal indicator bacteria or enterococci that exceeded CNMI marine water quality standards. These bacteria can indicate the presence of human and animal waste in the water.
However, studies have shown that storm water runoff in tropical environments may also contain these bacteria from the natural environment, which may not be directly associated with public health concerns.
Still, to adequately address public health concerns, BECQ has given the following location a red flag and advises the public not to fish or swim within 300 feet of the location for the next 48 hours or until otherwise notified:
Unai Dangkulo
On Rota, none of the samples collected from recreational beaches and storm drainages this week contained excessive concentration of fecal indicator bacteria nor did they exceed CNMI marine water quality standards. Therefore, BECQ assigns all of the sampled beach sites on Rota a green flag.
Scheduled power service interruption on Jan. 25
(Commonwealth Utilities Corp.) — There will be a scheduled power service interruption on Monday, Jan. 25, 2021, from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. in Lower Base, Tanapag, As Mahetog, Achugao, San Roque, As Matuis and Marpi.
This will allow CUC linemen to safely replace deteriorated hardware on the primary power poles along Chalan Pale Arnold Road on Feeder 7 and near Pacific Marine Enterprise in Tanapag and Camille Gardenia Apartment in Marpi.
• Traffic lights affected: Lower Base, near Saipan Ice & Water Co.
• Water wells affected: As Matuis, San Roque, Achugao and Tanapag
• Wastewater lift stations affected: T-1, T-3, SR-1, SR-2 and SR-3
CUC apologizes in advance for the inconvenience and appreciates the public’s understanding during the scheduled outage.
For more information, contact the CUC customer hotline at 236-4333 or monitor its Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/CommonwealthUtilitiesCorporation
Scheduled water service interruption on Jan. 25
(Commonwealth Utilities Corp.) — There will be a scheduled water service interruption in San Vicente, Papago, Laulau, Tuturam, Upper Dandan Homestead, Obyan and Naftan on Monday, Jan. 25, 2021 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The purpose of the scheduled water interruption is to allow GPPC Inc., CUC’s contractor for the San Vicente water tank replacement project, to connect the 6-inch PVC pipes to the existing transmission lines to allow temporary water service during the replacement of the existing tank. As a result of the new tank, a more reliable water system will be provided to the community.
CUC continues to work diligently to minimize any inconvenience to its customers.
For more information, contact the CUC hotline at 236-4333 or monitor its Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CommonwealthUtilitiesCorporation
Sewer odor in Sadog Tasi, Puerto Rico, Lower Base and Garapan
(Commonwealth Utilities Corp.) — There will be a sewage odor in the Sadog Tasi, Puerto Rico, Lower Base, and Garapan areas and is expected to continue intermittently throughout the months of February, March and April 2021.
At present, the cause of the sewer odor is due to the re-activation of the aerators in basin I at the Sadog Tasi Treatment Plant and the startup of the digester aerator unit following a drawdown or decanting of excess effluent. The temporary clarifier currently running needs to allow additional sludge to build a sludge layer on the bottom of the basin to properly capture and draw the waste sludge from the unit. This process may take up to three months or more depending on the timing of the treatment process changes. As a result, there will be reduced orders and improved effluent quality once it goes operational.
CUC is also working on reducing the odor around the Sadog Tasi Treatment Plant to prevent emission of the odor to the neighboring areas. We will be looking at alternatives for masking the smell of the treatment process which is not hazardous to you, just unpleasant to smell.
CUC appreciates the public’s patience throughout this sewage process and will continue to work diligently to minimize any inconvenience to its customers.
For more information, contact the CUC Call Center at 664-4282 or monitor CUC’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/CommonwealthUtilitiesCorporation
