New secondary wastewater treatment plant christened in Dededo

A new $122 million wastewater treatment plant was christened today in Dededo. Officials say it's not just a benefit to the many people - civilian and military - that are living up north, but also to the environment.

Guam Waterworks Authority general manager Miguel Bordallo has a more technical explanation of the function and processes of the major, new secondary wastewater treatment plant, but the bottom line for customers.  "A lot of effort went into the design and the construction, but the ultimate product is enhanced capacity, enhanced treatment process, and we're now fully compliant with USEPA permits, and its just much better for the island and the people of Guam," he said.

In short, the sewage effluent that's discharged into the ocean is even cleaner, as is the sludge that's deposited into the landfill. This is the second such treatment plant. The one in Agat-Santa Rita was brought online about five years ago, and one more is underway in Hagatna, but this one is the largest.

"It was obviously high on the priority list, but also it serves the military communities that are being constructed as part of the buildup. so we wanted to upgrade this in anticipation of the increased flows to give us enough capacity," Bordallo said.

The new plant is not exempt from the ongoing property dispute between GWA and local developer CoreTech. The company claims ownership over a portion of the land at the main plant next door. It asserts it was purchased from an original landowner.

But Bordallo says GWA is fighting to protect its more than $200 million investment in the plants. "The site that we're standing on right now was purchased from the Ancestral Lands Commission, this is not embroiled in that dispute at all. The existing plant is what's at issue with CoreTech. The investment, however, was made across both sites so the amount of money that we have invested In the existing site is part of that, embroiled in that conflict, that process. So we are asserting our legal rights, the property has never passed from the government to any private entity and the property belongs to GWA and we are making our case in court to support that," he said.

Bordallo says the parties are waiting on the court to schedule the latest status conference in the case.