Legislative legal counsels told to join AGO in PCB lawsuit

The House of Representatives yesterday joined the Senate in drawing attention anew on the polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) contamination in Tanapag as it launched an investigation into the costs incurred by the CNMI in dealing with the worsening problem.

Members of the 18-seat chamber adopted a joint resolution asking both the House and the Senate legal counsels to conduct the probe as well as to work with the Attorney General’s Office in seeking compensation and reparation for all the costs associated with ensuring health and environmental safety for village residents.

A separate joint resolution from the Senate was also adopted during yesterday’s session by the lower house in which legislators pressed government lawyers to file a lawsuit to compensate victims, reimburse the CNMI and clean up Tanapag of the highly-toxic chemicals abandoned by the U.S. military.

The investigation sought by the House will determine the extent of losses suffered by the island government as a result of the PCB and dioxin contamination, while optioning legal steps to help recover reimbursements from Washington for these expenditures.

The move came just five days after the Senate passed a nearly identical resolution urging the Tenorio administration and the AGO in particular to take aggressive actions in order to stop the contamination as well as to ease fears by Tanapag residents for potential harmful effects.

A cleanup of the dangerous chemicals left behind by U.S. forces in the 1960s in Tanapag and other areas on the island must be carried out immediately to lessen the health and environmental risks, according to the Senate version.

Both resolutions, however, acknowledged the lack of efforts by both the CNMI and the federal government to resolve the problem despite the discovery in 1988 by the Navy and the acceptance of responsibility by the Department of Defense in 1992.

PCBs and dioxins were found in electrical capacitors abandoned by the military during the 60’s on the island, but Tanapag had received high concentrations of these dangerous chemicals, exposing its residents to various health and environmental risks.

A public hearing held two months ago in the village raised new concerns on the contamination, but authorities have yet to take concrete actions to reduce the problem. So far, temporary measures have been implemented, such as closure of a cemetery, to protect residents.

Juan N. Babauta, CNMI’s resident representative to Washington, has also asked the Department of Interior to provide funding to send a specialist to Saipan who will help local physicians monitor the health of the public for presence of PCB contamination.

The contamination in Tanapag, which has spread to the Lower Base Cemetery, has triggered fresh concerns on public health and safety of the area from the island government in recent months following complaints from residents.

In November, the governor ordered the cemetery off-limits to the public in an effort to prevent the contamination from becoming a serious health hazard.

Studies show PCBs caused cancer in animals and that people exposed to the chemical for a long time can experience nose, lung and skin irritation.