PCB soil treatment resumes
The treatment of PCB-laced soil in Tanapag has resumed since Saturday after getting a green light from the Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said yesterday.
Frank Ono, the Army Corps’ on-island representative, said treatment operations resumed following the issuance of a conditional approval from the EPA.
“They call it conditional approval because they’re completing a risk assessment that they still have to finish,” Ono said. “It just means ‘not final’.”
When the Saipan Tribune visited the site yesterday afternoon, the PCB treatment machine was not running. Ono admitted that the machine has been operating intermittently.
“They’re having start-up difficulties. The machine hasn’t been running for over eight weeks,” he said. The machine occasionally had to undergo maintenance.
The operations were stopped following a fatal burning incident last February 16 that resulted in the death of Filipino worker Roberto Alarzar. Two other workers were injured.
Both the EPA and the Army Corps had earlier announced that treatment operations would resume this month, claiming that the project’s contractor, the Environmental Chemical Corporation, is working with them to address safety concerns at the site.
Alarzar was burned by hot dust at the treatment site when he opened the electrostatic precipitator hopper unit of the machine.
The ECC was required to develop detailed procedures for the ITD unit to ensure that the electrostatic precipitator hopper units are empty before their access plates are removed. It should make sure that on-site workers know the proper procedures.
Besides ensuring that its workers are given needed emergency training, the ECC was also required to revise its safety and health plan.
