Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Southerns Gather At Landfill Meeting

Southerners to gather at landfill meeting
by Sabrina Salas Matanane, KUAM News
Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Tonight southern residents will have the opportunity to hear more about Guam Resource Recovery Partners' plans to build a landfill and an incinerator in Santa Rita. A village meeting will get underway at the village's community center beginning at 6:30pm. Residents of Agat, Santa Rita and Piti will finally have the opportunity to hear more about the proposed landfill including where exactly it will be located.

According to GRRP, it's in Guatali, but according to maps at the Chamorro Land Trust Commission, the property is actually referred to as "Atantano", or what's also called "Parcel B".

It seems even the chairman of the Legislative Committee on Natural Resources, Jim Espaldon (R), seems to be confused. Initially when the initial study was done, that whole area was Guatali and it was one piece. After that study then something happened where it got divided and part of it went to the federal government and the other half went to the Government of Guam," the freshman policymaker told KUAM News. "Whether they call it Atantano or Guatali, it's a matter of semantics, because at the start initially it was all Guatali."

Espaldon continued, "Is it a separate piece? I believe so again a lot of the studies were done as I understand on what is now the federal property so I believe that the private developer, GRRP in this case, do have to do their studies, due diligence in terms of making sure the environmental concerns are addressed again according to EPA standards."

Officials from GRRP are expected to conduct a presentation on the proposed landfill as well as their plans to construct a waste-to-energy facility during this evening's meeting. As well, representatives from the Department of Public Works and the Guam Environmental Protection Agency will be on-hand to answer questions.

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