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Possible oil discharges at Rota’s power plant
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Posted on Aug 25 2011
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency investigated the Rota power plant this month for contamination of oil and cancer-causing chemical polychlorinated biphenyls or PCBs.
In a report filed yesterday in the U.S. District Court for the NMI, EPA legal counsel Bradley R. O’Brien disclosed that the assessment of the Rota Power Plant for oil and PCBs was done from Aug. 1 to 10, 2011.
Samples are currently at the laboratory awaiting analysis, O’Brien said, but a sheen was found along the shoreline adjacent to the facility.
O’Brien said oil—likely diesel—was present in almost all of the soil borings and groundwater wells installed at the facility.
He said EPA is now discussing with CUC options for addressing potential ongoing oil discharges and preventing continued movement of contaminants into U.S. waters.
“EPA has notified CUC that it should be preparing to conduct this work and needs to identify a funding source, since these next steps have not been funded,” he said.
O’Brien warned that if CUC cannot perform immediate cleanup activities to address the oil contamination, EPA may need to take action to protect the waters of Rota.
He said CUC may be held liable for cost and penalties.
In the same investigation of the Rota power plant, O’Brien said that EPA found transformers that were being stored with no secondary containment and that certain secondary containment areas had holes drilled in the bottoms (with no pipe or valve) so that liquid flowed out of them, rendering the containment ineffective.
He said the valves on other secondary containment areas were left open (some locked open) so that collected liquids drained from the areas and making the containment ineffective.
The federal court will hold a status conference on Monday, Aug. 29, to discuss the extent to which CUC has made progress in complying with the requirements of the stipulated orders.
O’Brien listed the Rota power plant contamination investigation as among the six major topics at the conference.
