‘Reactivate pozzolan task force’

The transition committee for the Marianas Public Lands Authority is pushing for the reactivation of the Pozzolan Task Force, amid plans by a private joint venture to begin exporting pozzolan from Pagan this year.

MPLA transition sub-committee chair Howard I. Macaranas said the MPLA board “should get their act together and reactivate” the task force, which could make recommendations for the establishment of a new industry for the Commonwealth.

“This could assist in improving our dwindling economy,” Macaranas said in the committee’s report, which was submitted to Gov. Benigno R. Fitial and Lt. Gov. Timothy P. Villagomez.

The MPLA board approved the creation of the task force on Dec. 5, 2004, shortly after it junked the application of Azmar International to extract pozzolan deposits from Pagan.

Part of the task force’s mission is to seek assistance from the U.S. Geological Survey to determine the actual quantity and quality of pozzolanic ash available in Pagan. The task force had also been expected to find a suitable investor who can extract and market the material under terms and conditions that will be beneficial to the CNMI.

The board designated member Nicolas Nekai to head the task force, but members have not reportedly been named to date.

Sometime last month, JG Sablan Rock Quarry, Inc. president John T. Sablan disclosed plans to export pozzolan this year. He said his company has entered into a joint venture with Bridgecreek International Corp., a real estate company that has over $400 million worth in projects in the United States.

According to Sablan, the joint venture expects to begin export operations in the latter part of 2006, adding that the project will generate government revenue in the form of rentals, royalties, business gross revenue taxes, excise taxes, and income taxes.

Sablan said a special trust account would also be created for the Northern Islands municipality, in addition to employment opportunities that the project will create for Northern Islands and other local residents.

The joint venture assured that it has organized a Legal, Marketing and Compliance team that would provide the design and environmental reports to the Coastal Resources Management Office and other government agencies, to start pre-extraction and mobilization work.

Pozzolan deposits, which are found only in Pagan and in a few other places in the world, are minerals that make a good component in manufacturing high-grade cement. The volcanic eruption on Pagan in the 1990s deposited tons of pozzolan on the island.