EPA lauds DEQ in annual review, praises it for ‘impressive job’

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 9 has again lauded the CNMI for an “impressive job” through its environmental efforts this year.

U.S. EPA Pacific Office manager John McCarroll said the five-member team from the Regional Office in San Francisco, California, is almost finished with the review as of yesterday morning.

“We’re at the tail-end of the review,” he said, adding that other EPA officers would remain until next week to further assist the Division of Environmental Quality in its other programs.

McCarroll commended the Division of Environmental Quality during a press conference held at the DEQ Conference Room yesterday morning.

“[The] overall summary is that DEQ is an excellent organization. EPA and DEQ have strong partnership. It’s all good,” McCarroll said, adding that the whole team is looking forward to the approval of the review.

Other EPA officers who attended the media briefing were Guam Program manager Michael Wolfram, CNMI and Palau Program manager Pat Young, Waste, Recycling, Remediation and Enforcement technical advisor W. Norwood Scott, and EPA New York fellow Irene Boland.

The team also led the presentation of the Brownfields Program fund worth $550,000 to the Department of Public Lands last Tuesday for the cleanup of properties contaminated with hazardous substances and petroleum in the CNMI.

According to reports, DPL received hazardous substances grant funds amounting to $350,000 to perform environmental site assessments, conduct community outreach activities in the languages of CNMI community members, and develop cleanup plans for the 153-acre Marpi Village Homestead site.

Petroleum grant funds amounting to $200,000 was also provided so DPL could perform 10 Phase I and two Phase II environmental assessments, conduct community outreach activities, and inventory Brownfield sites with potential petroleum contamination around the Mariana Islands.

McCarroll said one very positive environmental accomplishment over the last two years is that unexploded ordnances are now being handled more safely, that the Department of Public Safety has more involvement, and also more storage have been allotted.

In connection with the Brownfield Grant, McCarroll said, “One of the things we anticipate now is that the fund to DPL under Brownfield Grant will help the clearing and assessment on Marpi homestead areas.”

He said EPA is expecting the amount of unexploded ordnances to increase because people would do more active clearing. He added that there would be more handling and storage of vintage bombs, so the community should expect more frequent detonation.

McCarroll said EPA would wait for a written agreement with the local government on how unexploded ordnances would be handled.

“Basically, the CNMI is already doing that, we want it on paper that this is the way they should continue to do it,” he added.

DEQ director Frank Rabauliman acknowledged the commendation and support of the U.S. EPA. He said he is equally gratified with the support and assistance of EPA in helping them determine their areas for improvement.

McCarroll said DEQ only needs fine-tuning in some areas; nonetheless, the CNMI has been a leader in terms of recycling and solid waste management in the Pacific.

“We’re pretty impressed that people are dedicated to their jobs [and have] a lot of initiatives. They’re doing a great job,” McCarroll said.