Republic of Marshall Islands builds upon conservation measures with IUCN Oceania

This support is committed through the IUCN ORO Energy Programme through the Energy, Ecosystem and Sustainable Livelihoods Initiative (EESLI), which has been funded through coordinated efforts by the governments of Austria, Italy, Luxembourg, and Spain.

The Marshalls Energy Company (MEC), the predominant utility company in the Republic of Marshall Islands (RMI), is coordinating with RMI’s Ministry of Resources & Development, (MR&D) to fulfil the objectives set out in the RMI National Energy Policy. Through the EESLI, the RMI energy sectors, within the National Energy policy, seek to enhance the ability of both MEC and the private sector to deliver higher levels of energy efficiency, sustainability and environmental security, by establishing strengthened standards for best practices in liquid effluent management, environmental protection, and maintaining fuel quality controls and protocols for management of existing fossil fuel facilities and services.

It is imperative; plans and systems are developed and implemented to ensure effective waste oil and effluent interception and recovery. MEC recognizes the need for repair of deteriorated storage tanks and protocols for ongoing maintenance to prevent any contamination of the water table and degradation of groundwater resources and coastal ecosystems.  In atoll environments facing a spate of recent drought conditions and freshwater shortages, waste treatment standards on fuel and waste oil levels, handling, and disposal are essential in the two major power generation plants (Ebeye and Majuro.) These responsibilities fall under the purview of the Kwajalein Atoll Joint Utilities Resources (KAJUR) and MEC, and both management agencies are now primed to coordinate with experts in the field to create significant improvements through efforts slated to begin early in 2017.

The RMI MR&D and MEC have opened a call for consulting firms to express their interest in strengthening management, regulatory, and enforcement guidelines. To learn more about the waste oil management needs of RMI and provide expression of interest, please contact MEC through the Combined Utilities CEO, Jack Chong Gum (jackchonggum@mecrmi.net) or Chief Technical Officer, Steve Wakefield (swakefield@mecrmi.net), or MR&D National Energy Planner, Angeline C. Heine (gelheine@gmail.com). Expressions of Interest are expected before 5:00 pm Majuro Time, Friday 16 December, 2016 via email to the aforementioned focal points.

Any further inquiries regarding the EESLI project activities in the Republic of Marshall Islands and throughout the Oceania region may be directed by email to: andrew.irvin@iucn.org, or by phone to 679-331-9084.