Earthworks management has received the formal analysis by its technical consultants, SCS Engineers (SCS), of the Federal Site Specific Flexibility Requests (SSFR’s) for the Cortina Integrated Waste Management Facility in California. Over the past month, SCS has both analyzed the pending SSFR submittals and reviewed separate analyses of those submittals by the Kletsel Dehe Nation’s (Tribe) independent consultant, Dwyer Engineering, and by the Tribe’s Wintun Environmental Protection Agency [WEPA].
Based on SCS’s review, we are pleased to report that the seismic, water quality monitoring and alternative daily cover SSFR submittals were found to be acceptable. While there was no clear conclusion on an alternate liner/cover SSFR, many of the concerns in that SSFR are addressed in the CIWM SSFR submittals, so some re-direct to those findings will be needed. Other concerns will be addressed in final design as proposed. SCS confirmed that no major obstacles were identified in the findings of either Dwyer or WEPA, and that clarification on the alternate liner/cover SSFR comments by those parties was warranted.
Because Earthworks’ subsidiary CIWM must use the critical path method of project management to ensure the timeliness and efficiency of its performance, clearing these Federal approval requirements is a significant milestone for moving forward. It reinforces management’s position that the project can be built.
SCS will now discuss their findings with the WEPA, with a view to making any necessary modifications to finalize the SSFR’s by collaboratively addressing any remaining issues prior to submission to the U.S. EPA.