‘Despite $2M grant, CUC may not meet oil pipeline deadline’

Despite a $2 million-plus grant from the Interior Department, the Commonwealth Utilities Corp. may not be able to build a new oil pipeline by the March 15, 2012, deadline, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency yesterday.

EPA counsel Bradley R. O’Brien disclosed that CUC is now apparently proposing to complete the pipeline project in May 2012-at the cusp of the typhoon season.

In a report filed in the U.S. District Court for the NMI yesterday, O’Brien said that CUC’s management of the pipeline project continues to worry EPA.

“Though design drawings are being revised, materials have yet to be ordered for the project,” he said.

O’Brien said the construction contractor has discussed using a small number of people to implement the project, which is one of the reasons for the lengthy installation schedule.

“It appears to EPA that CUC’s delays in getting this project started have impacted contractor relations and are leading to additional delays in implementation,” he pointed out.

The CUC pipeline is an eight-inch aboveground receiving pipeline that delivers fuel from the Mobil oil facility to CUC power plants 1 and 2 in Lower Base.

Until the pipeline is properly repaired or replaced, EPA says it poses a threat to surrounding waters.

EPA and CUC first agreed to complete the project by Feb. 24, 2011,then moved the deadline to June 1, 2011. CUC completed a design but failed to build the pipeline by this extended deadline. The latest deadline is March 15, 2012.

O’Brien said that during a Sept. 16, 2011, meeting, EPA learned that CUC had scheduled on its own the completion of the pipeline project by May 10, 2012, and that removal of the old pipeline and other completion work would continue after that.

O’Brien said that EPA does not agree with CUC’s unilateral extension of this or any other deadline. He said it is essential to conduct third-party tests of the pipeline to ensure that the contractor has complied with the design specifications and that welds are proper and secure.

“EPA has not received any information from CUC on the contracting of this critical component, nor was this information included in the schedule,” the lawyer said.

In addition, O’Brien said, the removal of the old pipeline, which will still contain diesel fuel, is slated to be conducted immediately preceding the typhoon season.

“It is imperative that this activity should not be conducted during the rainy season, as diesel from this pipeline may be difficult to contain,” he said.