Puerto Rico Earthquakes 2019 - 2020
Two hurricanes,
Irma and Maria, close in time, were especially damaging. At the same
time, Puerto Rico phased out tax preferences (in place since the
1950s) that encouraged firms to invest heavily in Puerto Rico AND
there was a steep rise in the price of oil. Puerto Rico itself does
not produce petroleum but rather imports it for vehicle fuel and for
electricity generation. Unemployment is 11% - and more than
double that for people 15 to 24. Those percentages are unsustainable.
Puerto Rico
generates about 21 billion kilowatts of electricity - 94% from oil.
There is a powerful need to greatly expand solar power - which would
reduce oil imports and provide some jobs. In addition, solar devices
can be used to provide purified water, which becomes a critical
problem for Puerto Rico if the electrical grid fails. We note the
efforts of Operation Aqua, WaterStep and Empowered by Light (with
Sunrun). On a larger scale, Puerto Rico is an island - that means it
is surrounded by water. The problem with large solar desalination
facilities (as at St. Croix and St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin islands)
is that electrical power also has to be used to pump the purified
water. We believe that there are 11 surface water reservoirs with
capacities greater than 5,000 acre-feet and that six of these are used
primarily for public water supply. As such, these need to be assessed
for seismic safety. Reservoir dam ruptures are triple disasters -
drinking water is lost and the resulting floods cause damage and
diseases. Currently, Puerto Rico imports 100,000 barrels of oil per
day and 1.3 billion cubic meters of natural gas. Our understanding is
that Guayanilla Bay is the only LNG terminal, so if it were damaged by
an earthquake or tsunami many in Puerto Rico would be in dire straits.
We are unable to obtain current data describing how much oil is landed
at Yabucoa and San Juan. However, without trucks and roads the oil and
natural gas are not easily distributed. Puerto Rico has nearly 27,000
kilometers of roads - these need to be prioritized for assessment by
use and by volume.
We believe that in addition to more than 120
water production facilities there are also at least 50 water treatment
plants - most of these did not fare well in the wake of the
hurricanes, and it is to be expected that a major earthquake would
severely damage pipes as well as machinery.
We prefer to reserve
comment at this time on how effective the FCC plans will be to provide
universal and affordable and robust (or easily recovered / repaired)
internet service.
Recommendations - Utilities:
Water, electricity, internet and sewage