CUC acting Executive Director Abe Utu Malae yesterday said from 400,000 gallons of liquid in Tank 104 about 50,000 gallons remain.
“This is high caloric value liquid but of very high viscosity. We had not anticipated finding this much grease,” he added
He said they thought the liquid in the tank was diesel, emulsion, water and some grease.
Under the second joint stipulation entered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and CUC, Tank 104 must be cleaned and all oil must be removed and properly disposed of by Nov. 15.
But Malae said CUC is unable to meet this deadline.
The plan was to locate possible users of the material or to ship the grease to the U.S., but at great expense: $20 per gallon, he said.
CUC also tried to figure a way to incinerate the grease faster, he added.
“We experimented with cutting the grease with diesel to a consistency that would flow easily through the nozzles,” he said.
The scheme worked and CUC was able to burn at least 800 gallons per day, he said.
However, he added, CUC still cannot meet the November deadline.
But Malae said CUC has a plan to comply with the federal stipulated orders.
