COMMONWEALTH Utilities Corp. Executive Director Gary Camacho said the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Department of Justice and designated Federal Judge David O. Carter “are pleased with [our] efforts in [complying with] Stipulated Orders 1 and 2.”
Judge Carter as well as representatives of EPA and DOJ were on Saipan last week, Camacho told the CUC board on Monday. “We met with them, we toured [CUC facilities] and we provided them with updates on CUC’s current system and where we are with SO1 and SO2.”
In November 2008, after the EPA cited CUC for violating the Clean Water Act and the Safe Drinking Water Act, the federal court issued Stipulated Orders 1 and 2.
SO1 focuses on drinking water issues while SO2 focuses on oil issues, such as requiring CUC to repair and replace oil storage and operation infrastructure, manage tank and pipeline facilities, and require spill and emergency response equipment and protocols.
Camacho said, “Although there were some findings by the EPA enforcement group regarding an oil water separator that needs to be installed at Power Plants 1 and 4, those are easy to correct. They’re happy with our progress and in August they will be transferring back to CUC the oil monitoring system at the power plant. That’s the plan and if the progress continues, then in February 2022, which is their next visit, they will be…closing out SO2,” Camacho said.
“We’ve complied with everything that we need to comply with — it’s been more than 11 years, and there are a lot of people that helped [us comply]. We extend our appreciation to everybody and we are looking forward to a positive and a wonderful hearing in February 2022,” he added.
The contract for Gilbane Federal is set to expire on Feb. 11, 2022.
Gilbane Federal is the Engineering and Environmental Management Company appointed by the federal court to oversee the SO2 compliance of multiple CUC projects.
Customer service
Asked about the concerns raised by some residents regarding CUC customer service, Camacho said, “There are obviously some issues, and we understand those concerns, and we [are] going to be proactive moving forward.”
CUC chief of administration Betty Terlaje will work closely with the CUC department managers, including the resident directors of Rota and Tinian, to address customers’ concerns, Camacho said.
“We want to provide better service to our consumers and that will require a quicker response time, better information and customer service representatives who can provide the needed information to consumers. We also want our field personnel to relay important information from the field.
“Now that we have revamped our CUC website, we are also looking at a better data and recording program for customer service and call center personnel so people can easily report water, wastewater, power outages and interruptions.”
Camacho said CUC also plans to launch a 24-hour pay service kiosks throughout the three main islands.
These will allow people “to pay at night, weekends or holidays, but we will also be making sure that these sites are safe and clean,” he added.
“We will encourage people to utilize those kiosks to make payments, but again it’s very important that they are located in a safe environment for our consumers. The idea is to provide more payment options to consumers and more convenience for them.”
The Commonwealth Utilities Corp. board chaired by Miranda Manglona holds a meeting on Monday. Also in photo are CUC Executive Director Gary Camacho, Deputy Executive Director William Gilmore and legal counsel Jose Mafnas Jr.
