FIVE containers carrying 60 bags of extracted polychlorinated biphenyl from soil and 10 bags of liner waste have already been shipped off-island. These are the first batch of PCB residues removed from Saipan 40 years after they were dumped in Tanapag.
Frank Ono, the on-island representative of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, said the contaminants’ final destination is Utah, where one of the two existing PCB disposal sites in the U.S. is located.
At around 11:42 a.m. yesterday, the truck carrying the last container of PCB filter cake left the treatment area in Tanapag and headed to the seaport.
The truck carrying the PCBs was escorted by two vehicles of the Emergency Management Office and the Commonwealth Ports Authority.
By 3 p.m. yesterday, the Francisca barge of Matson Navigation left the Saipan seaport for Guam.
The barge is expected to reach Guam by 11 a.m. today.
Acting Gov. Diego T. Benavente and Senate President Paul A. Manglona, R-Rota, commended Gov. Juan N. Babauta, the Tanapag Action Group and all local and federal agencies that have worked “so hard” to address this environmental concern.
Benavente said Babauta—even when he was still the CNMI’s Washington representative—had already been pushing for the PCB cleanup of Tanapag.
“This is welcome news and a major progress. The governor had long been working on this. The governor and I will continue to work toward protecting and preserving our environment and to make sure that our people’s health is safeguarded,” he said.
Manglona, for his part, said: “The people of Tanapag have long been concerned about PCB’s impact to their health and environment and we are very thankful that the PCB contaminated soil is now being shipped out of the CNMI.”
Upon reaching Guam today, the PCBs will be transferred to a ship that will carry them to the West Coast.
From there, these materials will be transported on trucks to the Utah disposal facility, Ono said.
“Shipping out these PCBs is a major accomplishment. The other accomplishment is that the piles are going down,” Ono told Variety in an interview.
Antonio I. Deleon Guerrero, deputy director of the Division of Environmental Quality, said all the local and federal agencies’ efforts, time and funding have been put to good use.
“It’s good to know that these PCBs are finally going out of Tanapag. It’s a prolonged project and because we all worked together, it’s coming to completion,” Deleon Guerrero said in a separate interview.
Sylvester Iguel of the Tanapag Action Group said he is glad that the contaminants are finally being shipped out of the village.
“I’m glad that the most toxic contaminants are shipped out, but other military chemicals are still in the environment. I am concerned about the future generation,” said Iguel.
He appealed to the federal agencies to also address groundwater contamination.
To date, 12,500 tons of PCB-tainted soil have already been treated out of the original 20,000 tons of contaminated soil stockpiled in 12 holding cells, Ono said.
They are now treating the soil in cell no. 6, he added.
