CUC completes major sewer line project

After years of dealing with overflowing sewer systems, thousands of Commonwealth Utilities Corp. customers can now heave a sigh of relief following the completion of realignment and rerouting of the W-8 Lift Station project.

Funded by both the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Clean Water Act State Revolving Fund grants and American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds, the W-8 Lift Station became operational yesterday during a ribbon-cutting ceremony held at the Joeten Dandan housing development site.

CUC executive director Abe Utu Malae disclosed that CUC initially started the project in 2005 but it was stopped for years due to funding concerns. Through EPA and ARRA funds, the project was finally completed this year.

Malae said the cost of completing the realignment and rerouting of sewer line W-8 Lift Station was a modest $550,000.

He said over 3,000 customers from several areas and villages will directly benefit from the project, whose contractor was Arch Structure Corp.

The executive director also credited the project to the leadership of his predecessor Tony Muna, whom he said was able to hire engineers from the U.S. Public Health Service.

“This is really a big blessing for us and our people because the problem of overflowing sewer system [for many years] is serious and this project addressed that concern,” Malae said.

Carl Goldstein, senior program manager from the EPA’s Pacific Islands Office, said they were very pleased on the completion of the sewer project.

“On behalf of the USEPA-Pacific Islands Office water division and our manager John McCarroll, we congratulate CUC on the terrific work that they have done for this project. We are especially pleased by the leadership, management, and hardworking employees of CUC who completed this project on time and within the budget,” Goldstein, who was among the guest of honors during the event, told Saipan Tribune.

Lt. Gov. Eloy S. Inos was also elated on the additional progress achieved by the once-troubled utilities firm.

“I am very much honored to be here as we mark the completion of the realignment and rerouting of sewerline for the W-8 lift station. The completion of this project is yet another affirmation of the CNMI’s commitment to prudently expending federal funds for the benefit of our island community. We remain committed to pursuing infrastructure projects that are of great importance for our community,” he told the crowd.

Inos revealed that when grant funds were made available to support the project, CUC acted swiftly to secure such funding.

“This project was undertaken to address serious overflow problems that were occurring within Joeten’s Fina Sisu Housing Development, which posed health threats to residents and neighbors.”

Malae said the W-8 Lift Station project was undertaken to address serious overflow problems that were occurring within Joeten’s Fina Sisu Housing Development, which were resulting in a health threat to residents and neighbors.

Malae said the initial concept was to replace the failing pumps and electrical controls inside the lift station with newer and more reliable equipment. In the process of developing the project, CUC seized the opportunity to make several additional improvements to its wastewater collection system in the area which resulted in additional health and environmental safeguards, as well as significant increases in utility efficiency and revenue generation.

In addition to replacing and upgrading pumps and controls, which were the original focus of the project, CUC also took advantage of available ARRA funding to re-direct the wastewater from the Fina Sisu and Dandan area to the new sewer line running along Chalan Monsignor Martinez (As Lito Road), which enabled CUC to remove two other lift stations, W-7 and W-9.

The elimination of the W-9 lift station, in particular, was of tremendous value because it removed a source of frequent overflows in a highly visible and public location (just in front of Java Joe’s).

Meantime, the W-7 lift station, inside the Joeten Dandan housing development, had been abandoned years ago, but wastewater still flowed through it, resulting in an accumulation of solids, odors, and a constant need for attention and maintenance by CUC staff to prevent clogging. This project finally removed the W-7 lift station for good.

According to CUC, another benefit of the re-routing of the W-8 was the reduction of flow to the antiquated Northern Marianas College sewer system, which has suffered numerous incidences of pipe failure both within the campus itself and along Chalan Monsignor Guerrero. The elimination of the Fina Sisu discharge from this piping will reduce the frequency and severity of overflows and pipe failures until CUC is able replace this system in the future.

In the process of re-routing the Fina Sisu wastewater discharge, CUC also provided for the future connection of Kannat Tabla and surrounding areas, by installing larger piping that can handle the additional flows once funding becomes available for further expansion.