CUC’s deputy director for water and wastewater Bruce Megarr said they can bring into compliance the agency’s wastewater plants and collection system, public water system, power plants and oil transfer pipeline.
On Guam, the federal court appointed Gershman, Brickner & Bratton Inc. as receiver to bring the Ordot dump into compliance with Environmental Protection Agency regulations.
CUC Executive Director Antonio Muna said they have three options to address the used oil problem cited in the federal stipulated orders.
He said with the two incinerators at Power Plant 1, CUC can dispose any used oil generated at the plants, including those from the Aggreko power depot and Power Plant 4.
Such a scheme is already in place, he said in an e-mail to Rep. Tina Sablan, chairwoman of the Saipan legislative delegation’s Public Utilities and Infrastructure Committee.
Muna said CUC may also enter into a partnership with private entities that can utilized the used oil for their boilers, adding that some operators have already approached him.
CUC’s used oil tested and qualified for reuse will be made available to the private sector, he said.
The private entities, however, will still secure a permit from the EPA and the Division of Environmental Quality, Muna said.
The third option is for CUC to reuse the used oil as fuel but agency must first acquire an oil blender, he added.
In this process the used oil will be blended with diesel at appropriate levels to allow for use as fuel for generators, Muna said.
The initial testing of utilizing used oil as fuel will be conducted at Power Plant 2, he added.
He assured Sablan that CUC is also addressing the issues on pipeline and tank maintenance.
He promised to conduct a detail briefing regarding the waste oil consent decree next month after the rate hearings this week.
Muna said he is also working on a budget and preparing for next month’s Interior Department’s business conference in Hawaii.
Sablan, Ind.-Saipan, said that Federal Judge Alex Munson’s signing of the stipulated orders “means the clock is ticking now and CUC has to meet certain deadlines.”
