Funding aid for fuel leak cleanup sought

The Commonwealth Ports Authority will tap the assistance of insurance companies and Mobil Oil Marianas in the disbursement of additional funds to effectively implement its cleanup program.

The cleanup program is geared at ridding the Saipan International Airport and adjacent land area of fuel that arose from an oil leak earlier in February.

CPA Executive Director Carlos H. Salas said the recovery and remediation work on soil contamination problems are scheduled to be completed by the end of this month.

Officials of Allied Pacific Environmental Consulting and Tetra Tech EM Inc. have two more boring test missions to conduct. Three boring holes had been completed last month.

Mr. Salas added the Division of Environmental Quality’s required Site Investigation Plan detailed specific information on concentration of soil contaminants earlier detected by the hazardous waste management firm.

Cleanup operations are likely to be completed in the next two months, the executive director said.

Regardless of how much these operations will cost CPA, Mr. Salas assured that funding allocations will be sourced out to effectively carry out the operations.

He said this may be made possible through the assistance of Mobil Oil Marianas, airline companies and insurance firms.

Presently, APEC and Tetra Tech officials are monitoring all well fields surrounding the airport areas to limit the extent of damage.

However, Mr. Salas assured that with the expertise of APEC and Tetra Tech, contamination is not likely to spread around the surrounding areas where the jet fuel leakage incident took place.

“Now there are more works and difficulties, we are more cautious in conducting these boring tests to prevent the contamination from spreading sideways,” Mr. Salas said.

CPA earlier reported that soil samples taken from areas near Saipan International Airport disclosed fuel vapor contamination which warrants immediate implementation of extensive clean-up operations.

APEC officials uncovered evidence of “sub surface” contamination following the comprehensive water and soil testing analysis.

APEC environmental scientist C. Thomas Polevich said cleanup operations can now be implemented as construction of special extraction wells begun to pull the contaminants to the surface.

The Honolulu-based firm will prioritize the removal of any liquid product that will be located as drilling between the site of the fuel leak and the closest water wells continue.

CPA officials earlier disclosed that at least 14 water wells near the airport area were earlier inspected and three of these supply wells are continuously being monitored in a regular basis by APEC and the Tetra Tech.

DEQ officials issued a Notice of Violation to CPA and Mobil Oil last month after reports of 6,000 gallons of jet fuel leakage incident at the airport. The agency tasked CPA and Mobil Oil to evaluate the extent of the contamination and to implement immediate cleanup plan. (EGA)