Due to the long wait, the CPA board wants the governor to “intervene.”
“Four years is too long,” Tinian board member Manny Villagomez said during their meeting. “It’s about time that we ask the governor to talk to DEQ on this issue because this is an urgent matter for CPA.”
Villagomez said Tinian cannot hold the bio-hazardous wastes from its hospital as these pose a serious danger to the people’s health.
Although the board acknowledged that there are U.S. Environmental Protection Agency requirements that have to be met, Villagomez believes that these “incinerator issues” may be addressed if local agencies will give them “proper attention.”
Officials in-charge of following up the incinerator applications believe that the governor’s “intervention” may help expedite the process.
CPA in 2006 bought an incinerator worth over $500,000 through a federal grant.
However, CPA has yet to use the equipment pending the approval of the waiver it submitted to the U.S EPA.
An EPA notice of violation for contaminants on the ground was sent to CPA in 2005.
Recently, CPA was fined by the EPA.
CPA officials said once the incinerator is operational, it will allow the agency to save at least $20,000 in monthly fuel costs.
