CNMI to contribute $22.8M for CUC projects

The CNMI government will be contributing an additional $22.8 million to Commonwealth Utilities Corp. stipulated order 2 projects, bringing the combined total from the federal and CNMI governments to $86.8 million, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

In the U.S. government’s February 2017 report filed in federal court last week, DOJ Environmental Enforcement Section senior trial attorney Bradley R. O’Brien said that much of CUC’s progress is due to the U.S. District Court for the NMI’s supervision and the funding and technical support provided by the U.S.

O’Brien also said in the same report that CUC’s recent filing of a motion to ask the court to waive the qualification requirements for the position of CUC executive director and appoint Gary Camacho to the post was done without meeting and consulting with the U.S. as required by court rules.

O’Brien added that CUC failed to respect court resources and follow basic stipulated order 1 requirements by not submitting Camacho’s candidacy to EPA to determine if a motion and hearing is necessary.

The position has been vacant since July 2015 when the CUC board declined to extend the contract of then-executive director Alan Fletcher.

O’Brien said Fletcher was instrumental in furthering CUC’s compliance with stipulated orders.

On Dec. 14, 2015, the CUC board designated Camacho, the Power Division manager, as acting executive director. The board did not submit Camacho’s name to EPA for review and approval of minimum qualifications required. Camacho is still the acting executive director.

Gov. Ralph DLG Torres and the CUC board of directors recently asked the federal court to allow Camacho to officially assume the role of executive director.

Torres and the CUC board asked U.S. District Court for the NMI designated Judge David O. Carter to waive the educational degree requirements for the position of executive director on a temporary basis in order to allow the CUC board to consider Camacho as a candidate for the position.

Camacho has been working with CUC for over 21 years now.

On the funding issue, O’Brien cited that since the district court issued the two stipulated orders in March 2009, CUC has been awarded $54 million in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency federal grant funding for CUC’s drinking water and wastewater systems.

Prior to the court’s appointment of the Engineering and Environmental Management Company to oversee CUC’s projects, the U.S. Department of the Interior awarded approximately $10 million in federal grant funding for CUC’s stipulated order 2 projects, O’Brien said.

He said the CNMI, pursuant to the EEMC order and through DOI grants and CNMI monetary payments, will be contributing the additional $22.8 million for CUC’s stipulated projects.

Stipulated order 1 focuses on drinking water and wastewater issues. It also re-structures CUC’s organization to reflect a typically functioning utility and requires that key employees have appropriate education and experience levels.

Stipulated order 2 focuses on oil issues. This order also applies to oil spills and the remediation of contaminated power plants.

O’Brien said the U.S. will continue to work with the CNMI, CUC, and EEMC to accomplish the full purpose of the two stipulated orders—that CUC becomes an environmentally safe, responsible, and financially independent entity.