CPA to Mobil ‘Pay cleanup costs’

The Commonwealth Ports Authority is toying the idea of seeking legal assistance to address the issues surrounding the clean up of an oil spill incident at the Saipan International Airport earlier this year.

CPA said it may be forced to solicit legal remedies if Mobil Oil Mariana Islands, Inc. persistently refused to shoulder part of the expenses incurred for the oil spill cleanup operations.

CPA officials are scheduled to examine existing lease agreement with Mobil Oil to determine the extent of coverage in case of another oil spillage incident in the future.

Board Chair Roman S. Palacios yesterday disclosed CPA may be forced to cough up an estimated $500,000 if Mobil stubbornly refused to shoulder its share of the cleanup costs.

He said CPA is awaiting for the opinion of the Attorney General’s Office on the January 2001 jet fuel leak incident at the SIA to determine whether the oil company can be partially held liable.

This, despite earlier notice of violation issued by the Division of Environmental Quality citing both CPA and Mobil as the responsible entities that should conduct immediate cleanup of the affected site.

Mr. Palacios pointed out that CPA does not have an insurance agency to help them out on the purported cost of cleanup procedures currently being conducted by commissioned solid and hazardous waste management firm, Allied Pacific Environmental Consulting.

Mobil is covered by an insurance firm although it was not clear whether cleanup operations is included in the said contract. This is the same problem with the lease agreement entered by CPA and Mobil, according to Mr. Palacios.

He said the board will look into the said contract to determine whether the agreement cited incidents like spillage and how much can they shoulder should it necessitate clean up operations.

The CPA Board will review the existing agreement and carry out possible amendments if necessary to legally bind the oil company in other possible incidents of oil spill.

“I hope they (Mobil officials) will change their mind and pay even half of the expenses. As of the recent meeting, Mobil doesn’t want to be responsible for the cleanup cost,” said Mr. Palacios in an interview.

However, Mobil Oil Marianas Operations Manager Noel Enriquez yesterday stressed that the oil company has complied with its obligations and “continues to cooperate with CPA and DEQ on the clean up efforts.”

“CPA has continued to be a good partner of Mobil Oil and has responded appropriately to the cleanup operation of the aviation leak incident,” said Mr. Enriquez.

He did not say whether or not Mobil Oil has, indeed, refused to pay its share of cleanup costs.

APEC and Tetra Tech are already halfway through with the cleanup operations at SIA after soil boring where conducted in preparation for the Soil Vapor Extraction System to remove jet fuel vapors.

APEC environmental specialists has collected the ninth round of weekly samples from the Commonwealth Utilities Corporation production wells. Analytical results from these samples confirm there is no jet fuel in the CUC wells.

A weekly meeting has been initiated between officials of the ports authority, the Division of Environmental Quality, the US Geological Survey, the Environmental Protection Agency and APEC to ensure that investigation and remediation works are proceeding smoothly and as scheduled.

CPA has reiterated that it is ready to embark on a massive cleanup operations as it explores ways to provide immediate solution to a contamination case caused by jet fuel leak at the Saipan International Airport.

Ports authority officials underscored the need to completely and promptly address environmental protection issues surrounding the fuel leakage at the Saipan airport to prevent spread of suspected vapor contamination.