‘Rota staff used Rydlyme to clean toilet, chemical damaged Saipan engine parts’

Some Commonwealth Utilities Corp. employees on Rota have been using Rydlyme not on the power engines but in the toilet, while on Saipan it was never used after the chemical damaged certain equipment in the power plant.

These came out during testimonies presented yesterday in the ongoing jury trial of Lt. Gov. Timothy P. Villagomez and his two co-defendants, James V. Santos and his wife, Joaquina Santos.

The prosecution called to the witness stand Rota CUC plant manager David S. Atalig, former Tinian CUC power plant assistant plant manager Jesus Pangelinan Cruz, and Saipan CUC mechanic Stanley Techur.

During direct examination by assistant U.S. attorney Eric O’Malley, Atalig said he did not request for Rydlyme and that the chemical was never used on the Rota power engines.

Atalig said some employees only used the Rydlyme to clean the toilet.

Shown some pictures, the power plant manager recognized them as photos of a big drum of Rydlyme and several other 55-gallon drums of the chemical inside a container in their power plant compound. Another showed three 55-gallon containers sitting outside an old generator in the power plant compound.

Atalig said when typhoon Pongsona struck the island, a big container of Rydlyme was punctured and the chemical was spilled.

During cross examination by David J. Lujan, lawyer for Villagomez, Atalig reiterated that some employees were using Rydlyme to clean the plant’s toilet bowl.

Atalig agreed with Lujan that he does not remember how long the drums of Rydlyme have been stored in the container and sitting outside the old generator.

Atalig said he did not request for Rydlyme, but consented that he has no knowledge whether his deputy manager asked for the chemical. Normally, the manager said, he makes such requests from Saipan CUC.

Shown two purchase orders for 1,000 gallons each of Rydlyme dated April 27, 1998, and Aug. 3, 1998, Atalig said he is not aware of the orders. Each purchase order was worth $35,000, for a total of $70,000 for Rota.

Atalig said he believes Rydlyme to be a very good product for removing buildup in radiators of power engines.

Later, under questioning by O’Malley, Atalig said while Rydlyme is a good product, in his opinion it should not be used on Rota because it’s an old unit and if the chemical is used, leaks could result.

The witness admitted there are leaks in their engines, but he considers them not significant enough. He said he has never seen Rydlyme being applied to the power engines until now.

Atalig agreed with attorney Victorino Torres, counsel for James V. Santos, that considering the distance between Rota and Saipan, it is important to have stocks of material on the island.

“Storing the product is part of CUC practice?” Torres asked. “I would say so, “ Atalig replied.

Cruz, who retired from CUC in 1999 as Tinian assistant power plant manager, testified that he was not responsible for buying or requesting Rydlyme for the Tinian power plant.

Cruz encountered Rydlyme in the summer of 1998 when he received a supply of about 20 55-gallon drums from Saipan. Cruz said he was not aware at that time of anybody at the Tinian plant making such a request.

He said he decided to use a couple of drums of Rydlyme on one power unit. Having heard that the chemical damaged the engines on Saipan, Cruz said he first read the instructions on how to use it and applied a 50-50 method by mixing Rydlyme with water in the cooling system of the engine and that it did not cause any damage. Cruz said the chemical helped removed the scale deposits.

“But it’s not 100 percent success,” Cruz said, adding that he noticed some residue in the engine after the application.

Saipan CUC power plant mechanic Techur testified being called to the office around midnight in the summer of 1998 to assist other staff in the water treatment section.

He said two other persons, whom he later identified as James Santos and William Powell of Rydlyme company, were also in the treatment section at the time.

Techur said he helped flush the radiator of one engine—Engine No. 6—with Rydlyme. After running the engine for a couple of days, the radiator started leaking, he said.

“We were told to drain out the chemical,” he said. After that, Rydlyme was not used anymore, he added.

O’Malley showed Techur some documents requesting thousands more gallons of Rydlyme in 1999, apparently for flushing the engines. Techur said the chemical was never used after it damaged the parts.

During cross-examination by attorney Leilani Lujan, another lawyer for Villagomez, Techur said that, at that time, Engine No. 6 was only eight years old. He agreed with Leilani Lujan that he can’t remember whether he inspected or how many times he inspected the radiator and other parts of Engine No. 6.

The witness agreed with Leilani Lujan that he is not sure whether problems in the equipment or rust existed before the application of Rydlyme. Techur also admitted being unsure if Rydlyme created the leaks and melted some parts.

Leilani Lujan renewed her motion to dismiss the indictment. She noted that she received the government’s documents that they requested and that there are missing portion.

She said an ex-parte communication happened during the grand jury proceeding that qualifies for “prosecutorial overreaching.”

Munson denied the motion, saying he read the documents and citing the same reasons he had stated in the previous ruling.

In his earlier ruling, Munson ruled that the defendants have not presented any argument or rationale to fulfill their “difficult burden” to demonstrate any “flagrant misconduct” by the U.S. government that would warrant dismissing the indictment.