CUC Tank 102 project begins; Gilbane opens CNMI office

Steel was laid for the floor of the Commonwealth Utilities Corp.’s Tank 102 yesterday, reported to be a 500,000-gallon diesel fuel tank to replace one that’s non-repairable and a source of pollution.

At the same time, Gilbane Federal, a California-based full service construction company that will oversee this project, opened their office near Ristorante Italiano on Capitol Hill yesterday. The company was selected by the district court in December to expeditiously complete some CUC projects.

Gilbane Federal vice president Daryl Greenway cuts the cake celebrating the opening of the company’s offices on Capital Hill yesterday. (Dennis B. Chan)

Gilbane Federal vice president Daryl Greenway said they are here to get projects “going quickly.”

“The steel [laying] on the Tank 102 started today, and the construction will take five months if all goes well. In 30 to 45 days, we will begin the pipeline project, and that’s a longer project, some very specialized equipment comes to the island for this horizontal direct drilling portion, 700 feet drilling underground. That equipment hasn’t left Honolulu, so it will take awhile. The other parts of the project that will not require directional drilling would start sooner,” he said.

“The pipeline will be done this year. Depending on weather and a few things, it will be later this year,” he added.

Asked how the new tank would add to CUC capacity, he pointed to the lack of a “back-up” capacity that prevents them from inspecting and repairing existing tanks.

“What happens now is the fuel comes onto a pier down in Mobil that runs a pipeline down to Tank 103, then is fed from Tank 103 into the generators and power plant. …Right now there is no back up capacity for Tank 103,” he said.

Once built and commissioned, he said fuel can be stored in Tank 102 and Tank 103 can be drained for inspection and repair.

“It’s a very routine thing that you get inside a fuel tank and inspect every few years to see if there is any holes or any leakage and so that’s on the program for probably late this year for Tank 103,” he said.

The company will employ a handful of its own staff, he said, as well as specialty contractors. It also plans to hire local contractors.

After these projects, he said they look to do studies on CUC power plants 1, 2, and 4 as well as the power plant on Rota.

“Part of what seems to be next is how the power plants are really draining, how they shed the surface drainage… into the environment and not add pollution,” he said.

The possibly study would look at how drainage works right now. “Is there any pollution going on? Where do the drains go? And how does the water run in rainstorm?” he said of questions that will be asked.

According to Greenway, the overall timeline for some 13 CUC projects is five years at $22 million worth of projects.

U.S. District Court for the NMI designated judge David O. Carter, Gilbane Federal and CUC management officials, Department of Justice senior attorney Bradley R. O’Brien, and CNMI Attorney General Edward Manibusan, among others, were present at the opening yesterday.