DEQ wants legal counsel replaced

Amid the widening rift between Assistant Attorney General Murphy Peterson and Division of Environmental Quality Director Ignacio Cabrera, the DEQ Chief yesterday asked Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio to assign another lawyer to the agency that will provide them legal advice on environmental issues.

In a meeting with the governor, Mr. Cabrera said Mr. Murphy, who works as part-time legal counsel for DEQ, has already caused delays in the issuance of an administrative order and drafting of regulations.

The administrative order was supposed to be issued to the Commonwealth Utilities Corp. for the overflow of sewerline to the lagoon but has been on hold for six months while a draft regulation on solid waste has been pending for two weeks now.

However, Mr. Cabrera said he asked the governor to retain Mr. Murphy as counsel in charge of the polychlorinated biphenyl contamination issue in Tanapag village.

The decision to ask the governor’s help in hiring another legal counsel for DEQ stemmed from the release of documents where Mr. Murphy claimed that the agency’s failure to cooperate and follow the advise of the AGO unduly increases the liability of the governor and the Commonwealth in the PCB contamination of Tanapag.

In a memorandum issued to the special assistant administrator to the governor, Mr. Murphy said the salary of Mr. Cabrera and several other employees of DEQ which are funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, creates a conflict of interest in his service to the Commonwealth.

But Mr. Cabrera insisted that funding of U.S. EPA does not compromise in any way his job with DEQ. “I don’t know why he is saying all these things when I am not a federal employee. I work for the CNMI government and I am tasked to protect the health of the people of the islands,” he told newsmen.

At the same time, the DEQ director said the conflict of interest issue should not be raised by Mr. Murphy since the AGO is also benefiting from federal funding through grants given to DEQ. About 18.9 percent of the grants received by DEQ goes to the AGO to cover expenses for the hiring of legal counsel.

During the meeting with the governor, Mr. Cabrera said the chief executive expressed concern on the possibility that the CNMI government may be ordered to share in the cleanup costs of Tanapag village and the cemetery, which may run up to $10 million.

He explained to the governor that such possibility is remote since the U.S. Department of Defense has already admitted in writing that the electrical capacitors left behind in Tanapag belong to the U.S. military.

“He is simply making us look so bad. I am simply not going to argue with him because I am here to ensure the safety of the community,” Mr. Cabrera said.