DPL: Public input before any Marpi homestead

Representatives from the Department of Public Lands and Ampro assured about 20 people gathered yesterday in Marpi that the vegetation clearing is purely to excavate unexploded ordnance and the public will get a chance for input on any future homestead development.

The clearing has caused public outcry within the last week as Ampro, a hazardous material company, worked to clear 62 hectares of land to be able to dig out the weapons.

“[DPL Secretary John S. Del Rosario] mentioned very clearly that after this cleanup is completed, then let the leadership decide what they want to do with this site—proceed with homestead development, depending on money, how available the money is, because it will require several millions of dollars to do this, which we don’t have. Or it can be a national park,” said Franz Reksid, the Brownfields project manager for DPL.

With no infrastructure in the area, millions of dollars would need to be invested for water, power, sewer and roads. The area is large enough to develop approximately 500 homesteads. There are more than 3,000 applicants on Saipan currently waiting for their lot assignments.

“Right now there is no immediate plan to do subdivisions for homesteads. There was a plan in the past,” Reksid said.

The Environmental Protection Agency awarded DPL a Brownfields grant a few years ago to assess and clean up the site. When the agency was awarded the first portion of the grant in 2006, DPL Finance Director David Atalig said they were eyeing the area for more than 400 homesteads, and hopeful it could be another area like Kagman.

The Marpi Point Village Homestead Development was part of a master plan developed by an outside contractor years ago, Reksid said. The contractor surveyed all the available areas to build commercial or homestead facilities.

The unexploded ordnance was discovered about five years ago, when the area was being surveyed for development, Reksid said. That’s why the biological assessment conducted on the area includes Marpi Point Village Homestead Development in the title.

“This area was proposed for homesteads several years ago, but when things were found, that plan and project was stopped,” Reksid said. “And there was no money to immediately launch this project to clean up until we received a Brownfields grant.”

When asked to view the master plan, Reksid said there are very few copies and he does not have one. He would need to speak to DPL’s legal counsel and try to obtain a copy, he added.

Public meetings on the excavation of the unexploded ordnance were held a few years ago, but only one person showed up, said John Scott, president of Ampro.

Reksid assured the crowd gathered there would be public meetings for any future homestead development.

Zoning laws do not pertain to the master plan, but a representative from Zoning yesterday said DPL would need to apply for permits for any future development on the land. Reksid said the agency is looking at altering the master plan, taking into consideration changes and new zoning regulations.

A group of lawmakers also toured the site yesterday. House Speaker Arnold Palacios, Rep. Tina Sablan and Rep. Ralph DLG Torres met with Scott and Jim Collier of the Division of Environmental Quality.

So far, the legislators were told, 10 to 14 hectares have been cleared, which will be revegetated. In phase two, the adjacent parcels will be cleared.

“So it won’t be one massive clearance like what we see in the first phase,” Sablan said.

Everyone agreed more public outreach is necessary, so people understand the intent of the ordnance removal, she said.

“At a minimum, there should be a posting of a sign that explains the effort and provides contact info if people want more info, posting the [unexploded ordnance] removal work plan on the DPL Web site, and making related plans and assessments readily available online,” the representative said.

But, she added, this had been a healthy debate among members of the community. It shows community members care about an important part of the island.

Ampro is expected to work on the project for the next nine months. The area will be reseeded after the cleanup.

Reksid said an agreement between DPL and U.S. Fish and Wildlife states that DPL will maintain the grass “in a nice, groomed manner,” the project manager said.

It shouldn’t be overgrown, he added.

“We want it to be nicely groomed, so anyone who wants to have a picnic here or fly a kite can come here,” Reksid said.

Asked where the money for that would come from, he said: “Well, DPL and the Legislature and the governor will have to work on that.”

Jack Hardy, one of the people in attendance, said he thinks a lot of fact finding still needs to be done and loose ends, like whether proper procedures were followed and permits and licenses obtained, need to be tied up.

“Even if things were done correctly, if there’s no money to go to the next step, this was not necessarily a good move,” he added.

Scott, the president of Ampro, said in all his years of work, the Marpi area is the most heavily concentrated area of unexploded ordnance he’s seen.

The U.S. military used the area immediately after the capture of Saipan during World War II. It was used to store thousands of tons of ordnance for the impending invasion of the Japanese mainland. In the 1950s, the U.S. Army attempted to dispose of the munitions by blowing them up in place, but it was only partly successful, leaving the area with unexploded ordnance, according to the biological assessment of the area.

In the 1960s, a cleanup operation was undertaken and 4,000 tons of hazardous materials were collected and disposed of. Conservative estimates say less than half the ordnance present was removed. Present ordnance includes projectiles, hand grenades and mortar rounds.