As of October, the cash-strapped CNMI government owed more than $630,000 in penalties for CUC’s failure to comply with the federal stipulated orders.
“Yes, we will meet the deadline, considering what we’ve gone through,” Muna assured the members of the Saipan and Northern Islands Legislative Delegation’s Committee on Public Utilities and Infrastructure.
Rep. Tina Sablan, Ind.-Saipan and committee chair, noted that CUC has “competent managers on board right now and they are working very hard. It’s clear…that some of the concerns of the [Environmental Protection Agency] could be addressed [immediately].”
CUC is being fined for failing to hire a full-time deputy executive director; a full-time drinking water and wastewater division manager; a full-time chief financial officer; and for the non-submission of an organizational evaluation and reorganization plan as of Sept. 25.
It is also being fined for failing to submit a complete report on its drinking water meter reading program and documentation that it started billing all existing metered customers based on consumption.
Lawmakers reminded Muna, CUC deputy director for wastewater and water division Bruce Megarr and assistant executive director Abe Utu Malae that some of the things that CUC is being penalized could have been easily avoided.
Muna said CUC is actively recruiting for the positions required by the stipulated orders.
The issue of used oil at the power plants is also being addressed despite the utilities corporation’s limited resources, he added.
Several drums of used oil at the main power plant near the lagoon pose an environmental hazard, the EPA said.
