Gov. Ralph DLG Torres held a conference call with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency officials last Friday over ongoing issues with the local utility related to non-compliance with federal court stipulated orders, Saipan Tribune learned.<\/p>\n
The meeting included discussions over the threat of federal receivership, among others, and concern over chief engineer John Riegel\u2019s job safety after Commonwealth Utilities Corp. officials last week sued him over an amendment contract they signed but said they did not approve of over certain provisions.<\/p>\n
Multiple sources said EPA have been informed of Riegel\u2019s situation and that the agency has noted concerns about the role that Riegel plays in overseeing many of the federal grants to the utility under EPA.<\/p>\n
Saipan Tribune gathered that CUC officials did not partake in the Friday meeting. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe governor has been in communication with U.S. EPA regarding the ongoing stipulated orders and their concerns over management positions at CUC,\u201d the Torres administration told Saipan Tribune yesterday. \u201cIn the conversation, the governor expressed an interest to work alongside EPA officials to bringing CUC into compliance as soon as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n
The administration was sent a series of questions on the meeting but official details so far are scant. Torres flew off-island this weekend to attend the GOP National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio.<\/p>\n
House minority leader Ramon Tebuteb (Ind-Saipan), who says he had conversation with the governor on the EPA call, says CUC may be trying their best \u201cbut the system that is in place seems not to be in compliance.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cThe reason why is obvious. The stipulated orders are obvious. You cannot ignore that.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a recent CUC board meeting, board director Eric San Nicolas dismissed the EPA concerns on vacant management positions as \u201chighly opinionated.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe next step is how to solve this,\u201d Tebuteb went on to say. \u201cBecause it doesn\u2019t seem to be entertained by the board members.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tebuteb wants some degree of assurance on the state of utility, not only for the EPA, but for everyone across the system especially customers.<\/p>\n
He wants an assuring message so that people \u201care not in suspense and worry\u201d over their utility.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not fair for the hardworking people at CUC who are doing their job, because this issue on stipulated orders are management\u201d ones, he said. \u201cIt\u2019s not the people who are there who are the backbone\u201d of CUC. \u201cThe stipulated order [ties into] management presentation, or lack of management presentation, or which is really understanding the issue.\u201d<\/p>\n
On CUC\u2019s suing of Riegel, Tebuteb said, \u201cThat may be their rightful process but that\u2019s aggravated the issue, not fixed it. Instead of really looking for a resolution, it becomes a little defensive.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a May letter to CUC, EPA essentially said that CUC had limited its search for its top executive director position to local outlets despite promises made to expand personnel searches off-island, and that lengthy vacancies in three of eight senior management were \u201cadversely impacting operations.\u201d <\/p>\n
The EPA said that CUC had \u201cnot voiced a plausible strategy for filling these positions.\u201d<\/p>\n
In their June response, CUC disagreed and suggested that EPA\u2019s minimum qualification requirements for utility manager posts were \u201cextremely rigid\u201d and should be \u201cmodified.\u201d<\/p>\n
In May, CUC acting executive director Gary Camacho fired without cause former chief financial officer Matt Yaquinto.<\/p>\n
The CFO position is a stipulated order position, and CUC is required to \u201cappoint another qualified individual within one hundred fifty (150) days of the date of the vacancy.\u201d<\/p>\n
CUC executive director Alan Fletcher also stepped down last summer after the board voted not to renew his contract.<\/p>\n
CUC has been incurring penalties as it continues to fail compliance with stipulated orders. For SO1, which includes the executive director and the deputy executive director positions, CUC faces $2,000 to $5,000 per day in penalties. CUC has already accrued $40 million each in penalties for SO1 and SO2.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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