Federal chief judge orders EPA to prioritize permit
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 13.8000001907349px;"> The federal receiver didn't have to wait long to get a response back from the District Court regarding its concerns about the delay in the opening of the Harmon Residential Transfer Station.</span>
January 12, 2015Updated: January 12, 2015
By KUAM News
By KUAM News by Ken Quintanilla
Guam - The federal receiver didn't have to wait long to get a response back from the District Court regarding its concerns about the delay in the opening of the Harmon Residential Transfer Station. Last Friday, GBB's David Manning wrote the court accusing Guam EPA of dragging its feet on approving the final permit for the Harmon facility. Manning even argued that it's been 109 days and still no action, this is the same amount of time he noted the permit for the Layon Landfill was approved and that was a more technical project.
District Court of Guam Chief Judge Frances Tydincgo Gatewood didn't waste any time and ordered that Guam EPA administrator prioritize the permit for the Harmon facility which fulfills a condition of the consent decree. Guam EPA administrator Eric Palacios said, "The first thing that I will state is we were not in fact taking our time unnecessarily what we have been doing is diligently reviewing the draft permit as recent as this morning we have identified at least seven errors within the draft permit."
Palacios says one substantial correction that needs to be made involves conflicting language regarding acceptable waste more specifically PCB's. Judge Gatewood ordered that if the permit is not issued by January 16th, then Palacios shall file a declaration under penalty of perjury explaining the cause of the delay in issuing the permit and when he anticipates the review process to be completed.
Guam - The federal receiver didn't have to wait long to get a response back from the District Court regarding its concerns about the delay in the opening of the Harmon Residential Transfer Station. Last Friday, GBB's David Manning wrote the court accusing Guam EPA of dragging its feet on approving the final permit for the Harmon facility. Manning even argued that it's been 109 days and still no action, this is the same amount of time he noted the permit for the Layon Landfill was approved and that was a more technical project.
District Court of Guam Chief Judge Frances Tydincgo Gatewood didn't waste any time and ordered that Guam EPA administrator prioritize the permit for the Harmon facility which fulfills a condition of the consent decree. Guam EPA administrator Eric Palacios said, "The first thing that I will state is we were not in fact taking our time unnecessarily what we have been doing is diligently reviewing the draft permit as recent as this morning we have identified at least seven errors within the draft permit."
Palacios says one substantial correction that needs to be made involves conflicting language regarding acceptable waste more specifically PCB's. Judge Gatewood ordered that if the permit is not issued by January 16th, then Palacios shall file a declaration under penalty of perjury explaining the cause of the delay in issuing the permit and when he anticipates the review process to be completed.