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BECQ to vet proposed Tinian landfill sites
Risks to Tinian’s groundwater and public health have to be addressed for whatever site is identified for a new Tinian landfill, according to Bureau of Environmental and Coastal Quality administrator Frank Rabauliman yesterday.
He said BECQ would be meeting with the Department of Public Lands and the Tinian delegation on Thursday. The administrator hopes to discuss the identification of a possible site for a new Tinian landfill then.
“We have to understand that whatever site that we identify, there may be—if these are unlined—there may be risks to the aquifers. One of the considerations we have to take into account are what are those threats?” he said.
Because Tinian is known for its shallow groundwater, BECQ wants to make sure protection of groundwater is a top priority, as well as any other added public health risks, like outbreaks of fire on the landfill, he said.
It was earlier reported that a new site had been identified for the landfill but was still up for discussion with the U.S. military. The new site is in the eastern part of Tinian, in Pina.
The property where the old dump sits has been leased to Alter City Group as part of a proposed $360-million casino.
Yesterday, Rabauliman described the newly proposed site as a former and now abandoned quarry. But he added that because a quarry would hold a lot of coral limestone, it might pose a risk of leaching.
“You pour water in there and it’s going to leach,” he said. “So we need to consider that.”
He added that because Tinian has its share of unexploded ordnance, an “outbreak of fire on a dump that is riddled with UXOs” would be ingredients to a public health risk.
