Judge: Provide report on $750K for 2 projects

Judge David O. Carter directed the Commonwealth Utilities Corp. and the CNMI government yesterday to give a status update on the $750,000 that CUC is required to pay for two projects.

Carter, a designated judge of the U.S. District Court for the NMI, directed CUC and the CNMI government to file the status report on or before Aug. 8, about operations and maintenance fund and the pipeline project fund.

That includes the status of the $475,000 payment that CUC is required to place by today, July 31, in a separate account to fund oil infrastructure operations and maintenance.

CUC has agreed with the U.S. government’s recommendation that CUC establish operations and maintenance programs, or O&M, to better ensure that the millions of funds CUC receives from the federal and CNMI governments for projects are spent properly in the future.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and CUC have agreed that CUC shall establish a fund and maintain a separate account to ensure the effective long-term operation and maintenance of new and existing oil infrastructure.

The parties have agreed that beginning today, July 31, and every year after, CUC shall fund the O&M account with the amount of $475,000 per year for 10 years.

Carter approved the agreement last February.

As for the pipeline project, Carter said CUC shall inform the court of the status of the $275,000 that CUC was required to place in a separate CUC account to fund a future in-line or “smart pig” inspection and third-party analysis of the CUC pipeline.

Last Feb. 1, Carter granted a joint request by the U.S. government and CUC to reserve $275,000 for in-line inspections of the oil pipeline.

Carter supported the parties’ joint stipulation, requesting from the court that $275,000 from CUC’s Technical Manager for Oil fund be placed in a CUC account to be used for an in-line inspection of the pipeline.

In-line inspection, also called intelligent or smart pigging, refers to an assessment of a pipeline from the interior of the pipe using an inspection tool.

The old pipeline was an aboveground pipe that delivered fuel from the Mobil Oil facility at the port on Saipan to Power Plants 1 and 2 in Lower Base.

CUC’s Environmental and Engineering Management Company then built a new fuel pipeline in the same location.

The pipeline became operational in 2016.