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New CPA incinerator up for EPA assessment
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Posted on Oct 24 2006
The Commonwealth Ports Authority has finally completed installing a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency-required incinerator at the Saipan International Airport. The project has yet to be approved, though, by EPA to be fully operational.
“Everything is done. We just need to get the permit from EPA on air quality,” said CPA executive director Clyde Norita.
He said the CPA is also seeking permission to impose a new rate on the use of the equipment.
The CPA aims to set a fixed rate to recover the cost of buying the incinerator and a surcharge fee for operational costs.
“What we are getting is the new rate for the new incinerator when it gets approved,” he said.
EPA had cited the CPA in an administrative order issued in May 2005 for improper storage of oil and handling of hazardous materials.
The EPA gave the local agency a deadline of July 1, 2006 to fully operate the incinerator.
As of June this year, CPA had said that it was still working closely with EPA “to ensure that the incinerator requirements meet their standards.”
Early this year, CPA said that it would spend a total of $1.1 million to acquire a new airport incinerator and repair an existing one. The acquisition of a new incinerator costs some $500,000.
The rest of the funds would be spent for building renovation to comply with environmental regulations and the repair of the old incinerator, which had also been cited by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for non-compliance.
CPA said the new equipment is capable of incinerating 750 pounds of waste per hour, while the old machine’s incineration rate was just 500 lbs per hour.
Waste disposal operations at the airport include the burning of solid and hazardous waste from airlines, law enforcement agencies, local businesses, and military vessels.
CPA said that half of the funding for the purchase of the new incinerator was a grant from the U.S. Department of the Interior.
