TAG submits 14 inputs to DEQ’s cleanup regs

In a renewed effort to be recognized on various aspects of PCB contamination project, the Tanapag Action Group submitted 14 official recommendations to the Division of Environmental Quality.

The recommendations are in response to the recently adopted Harmful Substance Cleanup Regulations released by DEQ to aptly address the Tanapag Village PCB contamination problem and the jet fuel leak incident at the Saipan International Airport.

TAG Chair Juan I.. Tenorio listed in the recommendations the DPH Cluster Map to be officially known as official map of Tanapag Village, sampling test at a depth of one to two feet on areas where land formation has changed due to backfilling and erosion.

TAG also mentioned the re-testing of areas sampled by the US Environmental Protection Agency in May 2000 Multi-Matrix and identified as non-detect.

The group also asked DEQ Acting Director Antonio Deleon Guerrero to ensure that contaminated soil be removed and that DEQ address concerns on Fuel Farm Tanks contamination before ground water work plan is approved.

In addition, the organization insisted that residents participate in the ongoing project and decision-making processes, while TAG be allowed to act as observers.

Mr. Tenorio urged DEQ to instruct EPA to include issue of aboveground storage tanks and to conduct further testing of the marine and land food products situated in the identified PCB hotspots.

In a letter to Mr. Guerrero, TAG officials said placement of regulations is judicious to the well-being of the CNMI residents and the environment.

“Our 14 requests would not violate any federal and local laws and regulations. We strongly feel that the only impediment it has is financial.., but I have every confidence of your ability to secure the necessary funding, local or federal to avail of our request,” Mr. Tenorio told Mr. Guerrero.

He added that many areas in the village are contaminated due to persistent organic pollutants present in Tanapag area.

TAG’s concerns were supported by other reports made not only by EPA but also by the Department of Public Health and US Corps of Engineers.

Based on the recently adopted regulations, DEQ disclosed that several harmful substances released into the environment have cancer-causing ingredients and other detrimental health effects such as behavioral disruption affecting fertility, learning ability, and aggression.

Immediate promulgation and adoption of the clean up regulations stemmed from recent discovery of some harmful substances exist on several sites in the Commonwealth, said DEQ.

These substances, the report further disclosed, have been released into the environment and threaten public health, safety and the quality of the environment.

“The likelihood of the presence of additional harmful substances is based on the knowledge of past and present activities on such sites. DEQ’s ability to address such sites has been limited by lack of enforceable standards,” the document reads.

Under the CNMI Harmful Substance Clean up Regulations, DEQ will be able to protect the residents’ health and the environment by establishing a process to accomplish clean ups when harmful substances have been released or are being released into the environment.

The regulations apply to facilities where there has been a release or threatened release of a harmful substance that may pose a threat to human health and the environment.

Further, the regulations can also establish an administrative processes and standards to identify, investigate, and require the clean up of facilities and sites where harmful substances have come to be located. It also contains provisions governing public participation, monitoring of clean up sites, and emergency or interim actions. (EGA)