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‘NMI landfill a good example for Guam’
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Posted on Dec 09 2006
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has commended the CNMI landfill for being an example to its neighboring island of Guam.
In a news briefing held Thursday morning, EPA Guam Program manager Michael Wolfram said that Saipan’s Marpi Landfill is an excellent example for Guam to follow since the U.S. territory has no landfill yet. Until now, Guam is still using an open dumpsite for the disposal of the island’s garbage.
Wolfram, together with John McCarroll, EPA Region 9 manager for the Pacific Islands, said that the Region 9 office is closely monitoring and working with the Guam government to replace the dumpsite with a landfill that is similar to what the CNMI is currently operating.
McCarroll commended the Marpi Landfill for being the only US EPA-compliant among all Pacific Islands territories that include American Samoa, Federated State of Micronesia, and Guam.
Wolfram has just been assigned as EPA Guam Program manager. He has been helping the CNMI with its technical needs for the past year. He said he himself is impressed with the development of the Marpi Landfill, so when he assumes his post in Guam, he would have the CNMI landfill as the best example for solid waste management in Guam.
Wolfram said he is impressed with the day-to-day operations at the Marpi Landfill and the CNMI’s solid waste management program. “There’s a lot of good things going on here, the way they operate the landfill,” he added.
The U.S. EPA Region 9 has just lauded the CNMI for an “impressive job” in its environmental efforts this year.
“[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 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.
