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Judge OKs cost savings accord for pipeline project
U.S. District Court for the NMI designated judge David O. Carter has approved the request of the U.S. government and the Commonwealth Utilities Corp. to modify his earlier order pertaining to the $4.6 million construction of the stalled CUC pipeline project.
Carter approved the joint U.S. government’s and CUC’s stipulation upon reviewing it and in “anticipation of efficient construction and cost savings relating to the construction of the CUC pipeline.”
Carter said his order solely relates to the Engineering and Environmental Management Company’s construction of the pipeline.
Last February, Carter approved a request by Gilbane Federal for a task order with a total funding ceiling of $4.6 million to build the pipeline.
Carter selected Gilbane Federal, a California-based full service construction company, to expeditiously complete some CUC projects.
In order to facilitate cost-effective and efficient planning of the construction of the pipeline, the U.S. Department of Justice and CUC filed last week in federal court a joint stipulation, in which they agreed to, among other things, construct the approved design that consists of plans and specifications.
The parties agreed that EEMC takes responsibility for the personnel and subcontractors that they select to construct, test, tie-in and commission the pipeline in accordance with the approved design.
According to Gilbane Federal’s task order summary sheet, the completion date of the project is July 1, 2016.
Last Feb. 5, the U.S. Department of the Interior approved an additional funding of $2.6 million to complete the pipeline project.
With the additional funds, DOI’s total funding for the project now balloons to $8.1 million since the project was initiated in 2010.
The project is an 8-inch aboveground receiving pipeline that delivers diesel from the Mobil oil facility to CUC Power Plants 1 and 2 in Lower Base. EPA had stated that until the pipeline is properly repaired or replaced, it poses a threat to the adjacent ocean.
