White phosphorous catches fire at BSI site

White phosphorous caught fire on Best Sunshine International, Ltd.’s property in Garapan on Monday after it was dug up during excavation work.

The Department of Public Safety removed the munitions, believed to be from World War II, from the site yesterday afternoon.

DPS deferred to the Homeland Security and Emergency Management when asked about the removal. HSEM confirmed that white phosphorous, or “Willie Pete”—an incendiary and toxic chemical substance used as filler in military munitions—did indeed catch fire at the site Monday around lunchtime.

The site was evacuated for the second time in several days. A World War II sea mine was discovered and removed late last week.

Division of Environmental Quality site remediation and assessment manager Ray Masga, under the Bureau of Environmental and Coastal Quality, told Saipan Tribune that DPS brought the white phosphorous off-site to an area in Marpi yesterday.

Just two weeks ago, the bureau was informed that an archaeologist doing work on the site nearly passed out due to noxious gas detected in the area.

The backhoe operator in the area, according to BECQ administrator Frank Rabauliman, confirmed this event.

Rabauliman said yesterday that the bureau’s findings in the area were inconclusive. Because of this, the company was asked to leave the excavated area alone while the bureau continued their investigation.

Unfortunately, he said, after the World War II sea mine was removed last week, excavators went back to the pile that the bureau told them not to operate on.

“They further excavated the pile and it started emitting smoke and then it caught fire,” Rabauliman said.

BECQ met with Best Sunshine representatives and the archaeological contractors yesterday morning.

“Because of all of these activities and the risk to human lives, I felt we needed to call everybody to the table and inform them we take the permit conditions seriously,” he said.

Rabualiman said that Best Sunshine had informed DPS of the sea mine but not the bureau as required by their permit.

“We wanted to make sure there was safety first. We informed the permittee to look into hiring a UXO [unexploded ordnance] expert to be on site during these excavations. And before they proceed with any activity, they perhaps, need to run a metal detector on the remaining areas they haven’t excavated yet,” he said.

Masga said they anticipate the potential for other munitions discoveries.

He said an excavator reportedly broke off the case of this munitions. This exposed the white phosphorus to the air before it smoked and flared.

The smoke can create irritations and burn, said Rabauliman and Masga.

“Right now, we are trying to work with the project site to make sure they follow through with the permit. To make sure in situations like this, public health is priority,” Masga said.

In February, a spent shell was found on Managaha. The bureau required that the contracting company have a UXO expert on site before they proceed. Similarly, they now expect Best Sunshine to do the same.

Rabauliman called this the “prudent and responsible” thing to do.

Masga said an expert on site to determine if a UXO is active or inactive is important.

According to Rabauliman, BSI has agreed to have this expert.