Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — A number of inquiries have been received regarding the status of the new location of the airport Jet-A fuel tank farm project and when it will be completed.

Gov. Lolo Matalasi Moliga told lawmakers last month that the new Jet-A fuel tank farm facility will be completed when the fuel distribution pipes are laid under the airport runway apron rehabilitation project.

Work is expected to start soon.

When contacted yesterday for more details on the facility, Port Administration referred Samoa News questions to John Goeke, the petroleum engineer for the American Samoa Petroleum Cooperative (ASPC), which is a partnership between the ASG and the two local petroleum product suppliers: Pacific Energy and Sunrise Oil.

(ASPC oversees the main ASG tank farm in Utulei, as well as the Jet-A fuel facility, currently located next to the main parking lot of the Pago Pago International Airport.)

In response to Samoa News inquiries, Goeke explained that the US Secretary of Transportation in 2016 provided Port Administration with a grant of $6.8 million based on cost reimbursement of 90% of eligible costs, in which ASPC pays the remaining 10% of costs.

This project was designed by Honolulu-based Lyons and Associates while Paramount Builders was awarded the construction contract, and the groundbreaking was held September 2016. The original construction timeframe was 16 months.

“The target was to complete the tank farm in time to connect with a new fuel pipeline which is being installed under the short runway as part of  the airport apron rehabilitation project,” said Goeke who is the construction manager for the new airport tank farm facility.

“This pipeline work was delayed and we have allowed the tank farm project extra time so as to better dovetail the two projects,” he explained yesterday. “The new tanks cannot be used until the pipeline is in place and a prolonged idle time will lead to premature corrosion and damage to the new equipment.”

However, he said, 95% of the facility is in place and only the electronics and some of the more fragile equipment will be left in storage until closer to commissioning time.

“As such, we are planning a dedication in cooperation with the Office of the Governor and expect it to occur sometime in the next three weeks,” he pointed out.

In his official written State of the Territory Address to the Fono, the governor said the plan is to relocate the old tanks “to Manu’a to increase storage capacity for unleaded and diesel fuel.”

[photo: FS]