Guam - Although it was years in development, Guam Resource Recovery Partners' permit application to build a landfill in Santa Rita was denied. And while the company believed it had completed everything that was required of them, it's a list of inadequacies that prevented the project from moving forward.

"We are so happy and relived that it had been denied," said Vic Dires. "And thanks to my kids, who have been working hard to go against what they've been doing." The Santa Rita resident lives next to the proposed site for the Guatali Municipal Solid Waste Landfill in Antanano and says just the thought of the project was a burden on he and his family. And according to village mayor Dale Alvarez, it's a big victory not only for the Dires family, but a majority of his constituents who have been against the project.

 

"They got a good intent, we do need a landfill, but I don't think anyone would like to have it in their backyard...so all I can say is I'm glad it was denied and it's a big win for my people," he said.

The Guam Environmental Protection Agency determined the company's application does not meet all of the requirements required by law and the Guam Solid Waste Rules and Regulations. According to EPA spokesperson Tammy Jo Anderson Taft, some of the reasons include lack of financial assurance, post-closure care and management of leachate.

She explained, "In the letter, they indicate that he plan that was provided they were not satisfied that it would be adequate in case there was an overflow from the south from leachate or into the pond from leachate."

The letter additionally notes that GRRP has a 25-year lease with the Chamorro Land Trust Commission for the property, which expires in December 2022. The EPA states it would be impossible for GRRP to fulfill the legally-required post-closure requirements of 30 years, therefore "there is no legal authority to issue a permit to GRRP for this landfill for the land site proposed being CLT land because of the legal impossibility of GRRP to meet the required 30-year post-closure requirement."

Anderson Taft says its requirements like this or lack there of that had her agency doing its research to ensure all is done correctly. "So Guam EPA is tasked with upholding Guam's environmental law and the rules and regulations that support that law so this is all part of the process that we are tasked with upholding. So that's why we want to make sure when do things like this we hold everyone to the legal standard which is required by law," she said.

And while she has yet to hear from GRRP on any reaction to the decision, she says they are welcome to come back and re-apply for a permit and beginning the application process anew. For Dires, he hopes that doesn't happen.

"I hope that they will be denied again because the concern is my kids and grandkids will be more affected in the future and neighbors in this area," he stated.

As for Mayor Alvarez, he already has some plans in mind, telling KUAM News, "I hope that maybe later on we can develop it and I'm still looking for a place to put a gym or have my own baseball field because my softball field here is kind of small, but I'm pretty sure I can find something good to use that land for."

Additionally, according to Department of Land Management director Monte Mafnas, he has yet to hear from GRRP on what's next for the project, but says the CLTC would be losing an income stream of $56,000 per year and had the permit been approved would have gained a $70,000 signing fee and an annual rent of $300,000. He adds the money would have gone to the beneficiaries of the trust and is now left with CLTC property that will be difficult to rent out and expensive to develop because of its erroneous topography. He is however happy for the residents of Santa Rita.

GRRP vice president Emerson Gardner meanwhile says the company is reviewing the letter from the Guam EPA, but "remains committed to providing the people of Guam an affordable, sustainable solution to the island's solid waste challenge."