Remaining tanks in Tanapag to be removed

An undated photo of one of the above ground storage tanks at the Tanapag Fuel Farm in Tanapag. (Contributed Photo)

A removal and clearing process of the remaining tanks left in the old Tanapag Fuel Farm above ground storage tank will be discussed with the public this week by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

According to the Division of Environmental Quality of the Bureau of Environmental and Coastal Quality director Ray Masga, the Army Corps did their assessments and will be presenting their plan.

“They just recently did a biological assessment on all the tank locations that were identified and the next thing that’s going on is they’re going to be proposing or submitting their work plan on how to go about doing the tank removal and cleaning of these remaining tank sites,” Masga told Saipan Tribune.

“There are still remaining tanks in Tanapag and that’s what the Corps is coming back out to do…hopefully, this will essentially complete the necessary remediation for this tank site,” he added.

The Tanapag Fuel Farm was built in the mid to late 1940s and was used by the U.S. Navy to provide fuel for ships and aircraft during World War II and through the 1950s, after which up to 42 tanks were abandoned.

A 1998 Army Corps survey revealed 25 tanks still visible on the ground.

In 2006, six tanks were removed from the same site by BECQ and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. These tanks were prioritized as there was remaining oil in them and were also adjacent to homes.

Masga said the remaining aboveground oil storage tanks don’t contain oil but there are still concerns about their presence.

“They don’t necessarily have residual oil in them but they exist and so there is physical hazard in terms of the structure is dilapidated, rusted,” Masga said.

There are around 15 1,000- to 10,000-barrel tanks that need to be removed, three of which are in the property of a resident, according to Masga. If there are contaminations in the surrounding soil, these will also be removed.

Masga said the project could be implemented toward the end of this year or next year.

The USACE will hold their Technical Project Planning meeting on the said project on Thursday, Jan. 21, at 5:30pm to be held at the Tanapag Middle School Cafeteria.

Masga said other tank farms that the military built on island will also be looked at in the future like the Kobler Navy Supply Tank Farm in As Perdido Road.

“Those are also, at some point, going to be addressed,” Masga said.

Last year, the U.S. Congress allocated $2.5 million for the cleanup of three formerly used defense sites or FUDS in the CNMI.

One site is Tanapag Fuel Farm, which has an allocation of $1.525 million.

Other projects were the cleanup effort in Marpi Point Field which was allocated $343,200 and will involve a study of the extent and types of unexploded ordnances on the property, and the hospital dumpsite located at the Kingfisher Golf Links that got a funding of $587,300 which will include a study to determine the extent of contamination and whether there are any risks to human health.