PCB Contamination: Beyond Tanapag Cemetery

Over the last 20 years, there’s a marked increase in cancer cases in these isles. We are not talking about lung cancer as a direct result of smoking, but stomach, liver, kidney and other forms of internal cancer. A pile of files in our Honolulu office would attest to our assertion, files of people who have died of stomach and other internal cancer that have raised our curiosity in recent years.

The dumping of PCB materials in the Tanapag Cemetery over 50 years ago definitely requires thorough research and investigation to determine the extent of the damage such deathly contaminant may have had on the villagers. This case should include digging up the old dump situated behind the Tanapag Water reservoir to determine whether military toxic waste materials dumped there over 50 years ago have finally percolated into the water lenses.

For all we know, the water lenses above the village may have been contaminated with lethal toxic waste materials, water villagers have used for food preparation and personal hygiene since the Navy deployed from Saipan in the early sixties. Contamination may have thinned out after constant pumping of tab water from the reservoir, but it’s a measure that must be taken to determine with finality that the water in Tanapag Village is in fact safe for human consumption.

The PCB contaminated cemetery is situated no further than 200 yards from the beach. Is there a possibility that even the food chain may be contaminated, i.e., land crabs that the indigenous people have caught since then and fish in adjacent lagoon? Too, there are other places where WWII weaponry and toxic wastes were buried, i.e., tanks in Puerto Rico Dump and other places used by the Navy as dump venues.

The issue of gradual health ruination by deadly contaminants such as PCB and likely toxic wastes in the Tanapag Village water system definitely requires critical review. Whoever probes it must determine the extent of the contamination from land use to food chain and most importantly, whether the water lenses have been contaminated all these years.

When a final conclusion is reached, we need to know from the Department of Defense whether compensation and relocation are in order and who defrays the bill. Si Yuus Maase`!