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CRM issues permit for landfill
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Posted on Aug 18 2000
Closure of the Puerto Rico Dump moved one step closer yesterday with the issuance of two permits required for construction of the Saipan Integrated Solid Waste Management System, including the Marpi Landfill.
At a signing ceremony, Coastal Resources Management approved a major siting permit for the landfill, the first of three major permits needed for the project. Also, the Division of Environmental Quality (DEQ) issued a Section 401 Water Quality Certification permit, which is the state’s assurance the project will not harm CNMI water quality.
There are several other permits still being processed for the Solid Waste Management System. Project designer Harding Lawson Associates is finalizing plans for storm water control at the proposed Lower Base transfer station, necessary for an Earthmoving and Erosion Control Permit from DEQ. That permit will be addressed in conjunction with the General Storm Water Discharge Construction Permit. Also, the remaining two major permits are a DEQ Solid Waste permit required for all landfills and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineer’s (ACOE) Section 404 permit, which will allow the filling of a small wetland in Lower Base.
The ACOE is now in consultation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on the Section 404 permit to ensure the Marpi Landfill will not jeopardize the continued existence or threaten the critical habitat of an endangered species, such as the nightingale reed warbler.
Because the consultation is between two federal agencies (ACOE and the Fish and Wildlife Service), the permit may not require the establishment of an endangered species mitigation bank in order for the permit to be issued. This differs from similar negotiations underway between the CNMI government and U.S. Fish and Wildlife for other development projects in the Commonwealth that do not have a federal nexus like the ACOE.
Construction of the Marpi Landfill is targeted to begin in December 2000 or January 2001.
