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EPA, CUC disagree on start of typhoon season
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Posted on Oct 12 2011
The Commonwealth Utilities Corp. believes that its construction schedule for the installation of an oil pipeline will minimize the risk of a typhoon occurring before the end of the project.
CUC general counsel Deborah E. Fisher said that CUC and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency seem to have a disagreement about when the typhoon season in the CNMI starts.
“CUC understands and appreciates the value in having the project done before the start of typhoon season and agrees this is preferable,” said Fisher in CUC’s letter filed Monday in the U.S. District Court for the NMI.
She said that CUC consulted the U.S. Navy to provide some background data on the typhoon season. Citing the Joint Typhoon Warning Center 2010 Annual Report, Fisher said the reality is that a typhoon can hit the Marianas region at any time of the year.
“There are times of the year, however, in which activity is typically higher,” she said.
While CUC and EPA do not always agree, Fisher said that they have developed a very collegial working relationship. “[We] expect that to continue.”
Fisher said that Phase I (replacement of the pipeline) will be done by March 24, 2010, while Phase II (demolition of the existing pipeline) will be done by April 23, 2012. Phase III (close out), she said, will be done by April 28, 2012.
“These dates represent the best possible outcome and do not have much time built in for anything unexpected,” she said.
Accordingly, Fisher said, CUC asks the court to give it a three-week extension in total for the completion of the three phases.
“Therefore, Phase I would be done by April 15 at the latest, but then Phase II and Phase III would not have any extra days left for extension—and these days could be built in for any phase of the project,” she explained.
EPA expressed concern last week that the new deadline of March 15, 2012, for CUC to complete the oil pipeline project is in danger again.
EPA counsel Bradley R. O’Brien disclosed that CUC is now apparently proposing that it complete the pipeline project in May 2012—at the cusp of the typhoon season.
The CUC pipeline is an 8-inch aboveground receiving pipeline that delivers fuel to CUC power plants 1 and 2 in Lower Base from the Mobil oil facility.
