Pankaj Arora, Brownfields program director of U.S. EPA-Region 9, is on island to review the Marpi project’s preliminary assessment and site inspection
Together with Division of Environmental Quality Director Frank Rabauliman and Coastal Resource Management Office Director John Joyner, the EPA official answered questions regarding the project.
The ultimate use of the land being cleared was discussed but Arora said the EPA does not interfere with whatever the community wants to do with the area.
John Scott of AMPRO, the company contracted to clear the Marpi area of unexploded ordnance, said whatever the end-use of the land once their job is done is beyond the scope of the program.
Pankaj said the permitting and public outreach “could have been done better.”
He noted that the project started more than two years ago, but it appears that is only now that the people are getting the right information about it.
Scott said they have modified their cleanup procedures.
“We have another way of getting rid of the rubble, so that allows me to go back to the clearing of the alternate zones,” he said.
To address the additional factor brought by the coming rainy season, “we need to add additional measures of retention of ground cover to augment our erosion control procedures,” he added.
“You’re not going to make everyone happy, but if you address the concerns of the majority in the community, that’s a good thing to do,” Scott said.
The primary concern now, he added, is lack of information.
