Construction of solar-powered toilet underway

The Beach RAMP Environmental Quality Outdoor Education Center took a major step Wednesday evening, Nov. 17, when 30 people gathered to launch a much needed path-side public restroom facility, Saipan’s newest Beach Pathway improvement is in the vicinity of the WWII Tank on Beach Road near Quartermaster Road.

Wielding the ceremonial shovels to launch the construction were Lt. Gov. Diego Benavente, Rep. Ray Tebuteb, Department of Lands and Natural Rresources secretary Richard Seman, Mayor of Saipan representative Tony Benavente, Superior Court associate judge David Wiseman, Division of Environmental Quality director John I. Castro, Energy Office director Thelma Inos, and Marianas Resources Conservation and Development Council vice president Ignacio V. Cabrera. Also joining the groundbreaking was Environmental Protection Agency Region 9 administrator John McCarroll and EPA’s Pacific Island branch manager Pat Young.

MRCD, a non-profit corporation representing Saipan, Tinian, Rota, and Guam will develop the restroom. MRCD coordinator Jocelyn Bamba has been working with the Energy Office and DPW technical services to design the facility to demonstrate solar power for lighting, pumping, heating, and distilling water. Construction will be done by MARS Corporation.

Funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy through the DPW Energy Office, the small project is a result of community meetings held last year as a part of design process that created the Beach Road Area Management Project. The effort is funded by the US EPA, through the DEQ.

During the event, Friends of Saipan Beach Pathway representatives judge Wiseman and president Thomas J. Camacho presented an $8,000 worth donation of five picnic tables, five park benches, and a beach wheelchair. Two of the tables are wheelchair accessible. The bases for wheelchair accessible tables are made of concrete with crushed glass instead of sand and were donated by Manny A. Tenorio. The use of crushed glass demonstrates the construction value of this recycled material.

Ken Kramer, Team Resposible for the Environmental Enhancement of Saipan vice-president, planted vetiver grass, a unique grass known for its erosion control capabilities, in the adjoining drainage outlet. TREES and another community group, POWER, recently joined up to help out with project landscaping.

Beach RAMP manager Ivan Groom provided an overview and tour of the several best management practices that have been developed in the vicinity of the WWII Tank on Beach Road near Quartermaster Road. Best management practices or BMPs are practical methods to reduce the impact of nonpoint source pollution on coastal and other waterbodies.

Patrick Calvo of Calvo’s Development, Inc. hosted the event. He serves as the technical and construction manager for the Beach RAMP facilities. Innovative materials used at the demonstration site include grass pavers, permeable pavements, brick, geoblock and geoweb, geotextiles, bedding and bioretention swales; recycled materials, including tires and two grades of crushed glass, concrete sand, and concrete plaster. There are a number of informative signs explaining how the particular BMPs function to reduce pollution.

The next step for Beach RAMP will be the construction of a small amphitheater and stage on the northside of the WWII Tank on Beach Road and Quartermaster Road.