The United States Department of Justice has blamed the Northern Marianas' Commonwealth Utilities Corporation for a five-year delay of a fuel pipeline project.
The department says the cost of the oil pipeline project has skyrocketed from US$4.6 million to US$8.8 million.
It's blaming the CUC's managment for the delay, saying it has been ineffective.
The pipeline is an 8-inch aboveground receiving pipeline that delivers diesel fuel from the Mobil oil facility to CUC power plants.
The US Environmental Protection Agency had ealier said that until the pipeline is properly repaired or replaced, it poses a threat to the adjacent ocean.
