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EPA approves grant for garment factories
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Posted on Jun 24 2004
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has approved a grant application that would assist garment factories on Saipan manage their wastes properly.
EPA Pacific Islands Office manager John McCarroll announced the approval of the grant application for the “Green Garments” project, a partnership between the Division of Environmental Quality and the Saipan Garment Manufacturers Association, during the 23rd Pacific Islands Environment Conference at the Dai-Ichi Hotel Saipan Beach.
SGMA executive director Richard Pierce expressed the association’s gratitude to the EPA, although no grant amount was disclosed yet.
“The goal of the project is to evaluate and promote within the garment manufacturing sector on Saipan…approaches to source reduction, pollution prevention, energy conservation, and materials reuse and recycling where opportunities exist within their manufacturing operations and employee living barracks,” the grant application stated.
Pierce earlier said the monies would be used to hire a private firm that would conduct environmental audits on most garment factories in the CNMI. SGMA’s membership includes 24 of 26 garment factories on Saipan.
Pierce said the environmental audits would help the garment industry manage the wastes produced by the factories, including recyclable and hazardous ones. Facilities that would be subject to environmental audits include fuel tanks, on-site drainage systems, sewer line connections, among others.
He said the consultant would then draft a handbook that would guide the garment industry on proper management of its wastes.
The DEQ would provide oversight on the work being done by garment factories and contractors in connection with the project.
