EPA presses CUC to comply with regulations as it repairs engines

More factors continue to come into play as the Commonwealth Utilities Corp. races against the clock to rehabilitate the engines at Power Plant 1.

One of the stipulations regarding the reprogramming of $3.8 million in federal funds for the restoration of Power Plant 1 is ensuring all federal environmental laws and regulations are complied with.

Michael Mann, CNMI Program Manager for the EPA, said that CUC does not currently need an operating permit for Power Plant 1 because the federal environmental laws requiring permits were created after the power plant existed. It is unclear, Mann said, what type of permits would be required for any significant rehabilitation of the engines, but EPA plans on working with the utility agency.

“It’s entirely dependent on the scope of the issue,” he said.

Officials from the Office of Insular Affairs, which is reprogramming the money, did not return requests for comment by press time.

One assumption that the EPA is working under is that the emergency Aggreko generators will be used for one year. The $6-million contract expires in September 2009 but allows for a six-month extension.

The Aggreko engines currently do not have environmental permits, an issue that is still ongoing, Mann said. EPA staff within the Air Emissions Division is still reviewing materials and should provide feedback in January, he added.

“We’re working under the assumption it’s a 12-month contract,” Mann said.

It’s hard to say what would happen if the Aggreko contract was extended, he said, adding that the EPA does realize the situation was an emergency.

Mann, along with John McCarroll, manager of the EPA Pacific Southwest region’s Pacific Islands office, met with CUC executive director Antonio Muña last week to discuss the permits as well as the civil suit against CUC filed by the U.S. Department of Justice and the EPA. The suit, filed in NMI District Court in November, claims the utility agency has committed violations against the Clean Water Act and Safe Drinking Water Act. The suit was accompanied by two stipulated orders, which means that the CNMI government agreed to the terms and conditions being required of it by the EPA. The stipulated orders need to be signed by the court.

“I think that EPA, we’re very hopeful through the stipulated order, it can achieve some real progress,” Mann said.

He said there are no restrictions on where the money comes from to comply with the stipulated orders, so federal money could be used. EPA has provided technical service to CUC for many years and will continue to do so, he added.