Bureau of Environmental and Coastal Quality\u2019s non-point source pollution team is working closely with the Department of Public Works to revitalize Garapan, Saipan\u2019s central tourist district.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are working very closely with DPW in cleaning up the storm drainages and monitoring [them], making sure the flow of water goes out and filters through this island,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, Rabauliman said, in the past they found one major violation during monitoring of the storm drainages, where one establishment was found to have illegally tapped into a storm drainage instead of a sewage line for their waste.<\/p>\n
Another similar incident happened about two weeks ago, according to BECQ\u2019S David Rosario, when the Commonwealth Utilities Corp. discovered that one establishment had drilled through a stormwater pipe to connect to a sewer line.<\/p>\n
The establishment was not penalized as there was no leaking of pipes, and the establishment has been since been notified not to connect through the storm drainage, according to Rosario.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverything is under control,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The Garapan revitalization and water quality restoration and drainage project is one of the continuing projects of the local government to eliminate health hazards in the Saipan lagoon caused by stormwater discharge.<\/p>\n
Along with improvements to streets and infrastructure to improve traffic flow, the project aims to make the area a vibrant place for tourists.<\/p>\n
The area was described as \u201cpolluted,\u201d with \u201cunsightly drainage,\u201d and an immediate priority in the Capital Improvement Project office\u2019s 2016 grant request to the Office of Insular Affairs.<\/p>\n
The project addresses the \u201csingle contributor to non-point source pollution\u201d in the lagoon\u2014an open ditch along the south boundary of Garapan that carries multiple waste discharges and roadway runoff directly into the lagoon, according to the project\u2019s problem statement.<\/p>\n
The project will divert stormwater into an underground culvert and into a series of ponds that will allow for natural filtration, so that debris and sediments will not flow into the lagoon, according to the request.<\/p>\n
Right now, the drainage ditch is not well designed to trap and remove sediment and debris, the request stated.<\/p>\n
A conceptual study completed in August 2012 estimated the cost of the entire revitalization project at $20.28 million.<\/p>\n
For fiscal year 2016, the amount requested for the project is $3 million.<\/p>\n
In the interview, Rabauliman said that during heavy rainfall a lot of the sediments flow directly into the lagoon. He said red flags in the area happen often, particularly when it rains.<\/p>\n
He said these are \u201cabsolutely\u201d health hazards to the general public.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe do our due diligence in making sure we alert the public\u2026to stay 300 feet from this site, or any site,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Garapan is the center of tourism on Saipan. Runoff into the lagoon is adjacent to three large resort hotels in the area, and can result in beach closures.<\/p>\n
The project will also address air pollution caused by stagnant water in the area\u2019s open drainage, according to the project\u2019s problem statement.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Bureau of Environmental and Coastal Quality\u2019s non-point source pollution team is working closely with the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":47,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[260,1114,190,44],"class_list":["post-183359","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news","tag-commonwealth-utilities-corp","tag-dpw","tag-natural","tag-study"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183359","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/47"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=183359"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183359\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=183359"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=183359"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=183359"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}