CUC to address ‘inaccuracies’ in DOJ filings

Commonwealth Utilities Corp. executive director Alan Fletcher said that CUC intends to address in today’s court hearing the U.S Department of Justice’s filings that contain “numerous inaccuracies or left out relevant facts.”

According to Fletcher, CUC previously filed an extensive update to the court on July 17, 2014, providing information and updates on the pipeline and Tank 102 projects.

“However, on Friday, July 25, the day before I was to travel to California, the U.S Department of Justice filed a set of documents totaling 97 pages. These filings included multiple declarations by Environmental Protection Agency technical personnel on a far range of projects that CUC has, and is addressing, under the stipulated orders,” Fletcher said.

He said the filings from DOJ “vastly expands” the matter beyond the pipeline and tank 102 projects.

According to Fletcher, the filings were made after DOJ was put on notice that CUC would have to travel to a status conference in California and with less than “one business day to respond.”

Fletcher told Saipan Tribune that CUC’s technical staff worked through the weekend putting together individual declarations and formal responses to the court.

“Myself and CUC’s legal counsel James Sirok will be working on these responses right up to the court hearing,” Fletcher said.

He said that acting attorney general Gil Birnbrich will be attending on behalf of the CNMI government and will be the one coordinating their responses.

“I feel these filings have prejudiced the utility and thrown it off balance with competing demands as it attempts to address the actual issues requested by the court,” Fletcher said.

“In addition, the nature of the filing is not appropriate against our struggling public utility which is doing its best to marshal its limited resources for the good of its customers,” he added.

Among the issues raised by DOJ in its July 25 filing was the lack certified operators for the water and wastewater operations.

According to CUC’s quarterly report for stipulated order no. 1, many of its direct responsible charge or DRC operators left CUC in late February 2013 and CUC is recruiting by using in-house promotion for qualified operators.

“CUC now has 21 certified staff and hopes to fill these and future positions with local staff,” CUC stated.

DOJ also claims that CUC continues to have meter failures. CUC states that it has completed a “98.5 percent metered system-wide” and that CUC has the ability to identify and change out failed meters but “there is limited funding available to purchase additional meter stocks.”

CUC stated that it continues to struggle financially, due to the struggling economy and government debt totaling $25 million in unpaid utility bills.

“CUC has no working capital and no reserves to ride out long periods of non-payment, which results in underfunded operations, such as deferred maintenance, lack of supplies for typhoon readiness, and lack of monies for capital improvements and stipulated order projects,” CUC stated.