The U.S. government and the EPA sued CUC on Nov. 19, 2008 for repeated violations in discharging wastewater from its sewage treatment plants and failure to monitor its wastewater since 2000.
In the first stipulated order, which runs to 122 pages, filed by the federal government and the EPA in court, CUC is ordered to the additional manpower within a range of 90-240 days from the date of the entry of the stipulated orders, among other things.
Under its management and operation structure, CUC is ordered to hire a full time deputy executive director within 90 days after the stipulated order who willl oversee all drinking water and waste water operations and compliance on a daily basis; a drinking water and wastewater division manager within 180 days from the date of order; a wastewater treatment plant operation supervisor for Saipan within 270 days; a chief engineer within 180 days; a drinking water and wastewater associate engineer within 270 days; a chief financial officer within 180 days; and a technical manager for oil within 240 days after the date of entry of the order.
The order noted that certain qualifications are required from the applicants.
The order stated that in the event of a vacancy in the position of the CUC executive director due to personnel resignation or other circumstances, CUC must appoint another qualified individual within 150 days from the date of vacancy.
The hiring of qualified individuals to take over various responsibilities of the CUC is one of the several areas covered in the stipulated orders requiring the agency to comply with the law.
The EPA earlier stated that CUC has been discharging treated and untreated wastewater from the Agingan and Sadog Tasi plants without permit after their permits expired.
The EPA also said that CUC failed to operate the power plants properly which has resulted in sewer overflows in violation of the Clean Water Act.
The EPA said CUC has a long history of violating drinking water regulations in the water systems of Saipan, Rota and Tinian. This includes exceeding safe levels for total coliform bacteria, whose presence in water poses as health risks especially for infants, young children and people with weak immune systems.
