Negros Occ. bio-ethanol plant shuts down

BY DOMINIQUE GABRIEL BAÑAGA

BACOLOD City – Due to recurring pollution issues, the bio-ethanol plant in San Carlos City, Negros Occidental was temporarily closed.

Mayor Renato Gustilo suspended the operation of the San Carlos Bioenergy Inc. (SCBI).

He blamed the plant’s industrial discharges for the discoloration of water in the coastal area of Sitio Maloloy-on, Barangay Punao.

Gustilo also cited as evidence the footages and reports from the City Planning and Development Coordinator’s Office, Bantay Katunggan of the Coastal Resource Management of the City Environment Management Office (CRM-CEMO), Eco-Zone Multi-Partite Monitoring Team (MMT), and City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office.

While SCBI rolled out mitigating measures, Gustilo lamented such initiatives were “not enough to cushion the negative impact” of the water pollution on residents.

“The SCBI should settle as soon as possible the recurring issues or the city government would recommend to the Environmental Management Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (EMB-DENR) the issuance of a cease-and-desist order,” the mayor stressed.

On the other hand, Engineer Arthur Batomalaque, senior environment management specialist of CEMO, said they already referred the recurring water discoloration, foul smell and other environmental issues to the Pollution Adjudication Board of the DENR for possible charges.

Only the coastal waters were “greatly affected” by the effluents from the plant, he said.

Based on continuous MMT monitoring and testing at accredited laboratories, the local ground water wells “remained unsullied,” Batomalaque added.   

The SCBI representatives would soon convene with the mayor.

Moreover, Melvin Maglayon of CRM-CEMO, a conservation fellow of the city’s Fishforever program, said any industrial waste reaching the sea is “very harmful” because “pollutants can lower dissolved oxygen levels causing fish kill.” 

He added that harmful chemicals also affect the fragile coastal ecosystems like mangroves, seagrass beds and coral reefs.

These chemicals would also decrease fish catch and adversely affect tourism should pollutants reach city tourist spots like the Sipaway Island, Maglayon said./PN

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