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‘Sinkhole may have live WWII ordnance’
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Posted on Dec 01 2004
Cleaning up the San Vicente sinkhole that has become an illegal dumpsite for decades may require the help of bomb disposal experts amid the possibility that unexploded ordnance may be present at the site.
Anecdotes claim that the site was used as a dumping ground for military wastes.
Division of Environmental Quality environmental specialist Tina Sablan said she invited Department of Public Safety’s acting commissioner, Juan Salas, to attend a meeting yesterday among interagency officials and representatives. The DPS has its own bomb disposal unit.
Sablan said an interagency task force is now being formed to restore illegal dumpsites on the islands.
The DEQ is spearheading an interagency effort to restore the sinkhole—a 60-foot-deep, 40-foot wide natural geological formation that has a cave-like structure at the bottom—into a potential tourist attraction.
Sablan said the DEQ invited government officials and agencies to attend yesterday’s meeting to discuss the sinkhole problem. Besides Lt. Gov. Diego T. Benavente, the CNMI’s Solid Waste Task Force chair, Sablan said those invited to the meeting include Public Works Secretary Juan Reyes, Solid Waste Management director Steve Hiney, Historic Preservation Office historian Genevieve Cabrera, Coastal Resources Management Office director Joaquin Salas, and DPS’ Salas.
Also expected at the meeting are House Reps. Joe Guerrero and Janet Maratita, Sablan said.
An ocular inspection of the sinkhole showed that the dumpsite contains assorted trash.
