by Krystal Paco

Guam - Yigo resident and mayoral candidate Joseph Taitano has walked away squeaky clean for close to a decade, despite allegations he was operating a massive illegal dumpsite at his home along the Back Road to Andersen Air Force Base. The Attorney General's Office served Taitano and his wife Wednesday morning.

Illegal dump owner Joseph S. Taitano will have to cleanup his act. The Guam Environmental Protection Agency is suing the Yigo resident, along with his wife, Rosalind Taitano, for operating an illegal dumpsite at their home along Route 15. The couple is looking at penalties of no less than $250,000 in damages and $3.6 million in penalties each.

According to EPA spokesperson Tammy Jo Anderson Taft, it's been a drawn out process to rectify the damage done. For years the agency has had limited staffing and lack of legal guidance. "Usually when we're going after someone for a solid waste violation, we typically follow the notice of violation compliance method. And in most situations that works but in this situation it wasn't as effective as it usually is, so given the enormity of this illegal dump site, we've decided to take multiple actions," she explained.

The suit specifies damages the dumpsite has had, including the deep-seated fires that broke out several times in 2009 and another in 2010 that was so bad then-governor Felix Camacho was forced to declare a state of emergency. This caused great reason for concern as the property sits just above the island's northern aquifer. The suit also alleges the couple was profiting from dumping activity.

"You can only operate a hardfill facility and accept money for hardfilling materials if you have a permit and Mr. Taitano does not have a permit so if he has or is currently accepting money for items being placed in his hardfill - it is completely illegal," said Taft.

In addition to the fines, the suit asks the Superior Court of Guam to order the Taitanos to pay for cleanup costs to remove waste from the site or cap the waste, pay for landfill closure and post closure requirements that meet federal compliance, pay for a groundwater monitoring plan, as well as drill well boring holes and conduct water testing of the aquifer for two years and pay for any remediation of any pollution of the aquifer.

KUAM News contacted Taitano's attorney, Curtis Van De Veld, who says he only represents his client on some matters, and the two have yet to discuss this case since Taitano just returned from off-island.

A scheduling conference is set for August 17.