By Pacific Island Times News Staff
Chief Federal Judge Frances Tydingco-Gatewod has declined the government of Guam’s request to terminate receivership for solid waste management, noting the lack of a transition plan.
In a report submitted to the District Court of Guam, the receiver Gershman, Brickner & Bratton Inc. noted that the Guam Solid Waste Authority “operates in much the same way as it did under the receiver.”
R. Chace Anderson, GBB’s principal associate, noted several tasks the GSWA would still need to outsource.
GBB is currently overseeing the post-closure activities for Ordot Dump, which the court had ordered shut down more than 10 years ago.
“If the court should transfer over the Ordot Dump post-closure activities from the receiver to GSWA before the parameters of the consent decree are fulfilled,
then there will be considerable work activities involved with monitoring,
providing reports to regulators, and responding to inquiries and performing studies, as well as overseeing operations and management and approving
invoicing for payment of post-closure services,’ Anderson stated in the report.
He said the GSWA management will have to be able to oversee the workload either in-house, through contracts with engineering firms, or a combination.
Should GSWA decide to manage the tasks in-house, he suggested that the agency hire a licensed solid waste engineer with a certificate from the Solid Waste Association of North America.
“At this time, no organizational plan for the adoption of the Ordot post-closure management was provided nor was any such plan discussed by the board of directors in its meetings,” Anderson said,
Tydingco-Gatewood agreed with Anderson’s assessment, noting the need for a transition plan that includes commissioning contractual personnel help.
The judge ordered Irvin Slike, Guam’s solid waste manager, “to work cooperatively with the receiver to develop a management and operational
plan for GSWA assuming the responsibility for the post-closure activities at the Ordot Dump at the termination of the receivership.”
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