Paje backs LLDA on coal issue

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TUESDAY, 10 JULY 2012 21:12 JONATHAN L. MAYUGA / REPORTER

BACKING up the proposal of the Laguna Lake Development Authority (LLDA), Environment Secretary Ramon J.P. Paje called on private port operators to move their stockpiles of coal to a more confined area to prevent water runoffs that threaten to pollute the waters of Manila Bay in the event of high tide or heavy rains.

Paje said that in order to speed up the ongoing inspection of the LLDA, the Environmental Management Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources will join the LLDA’s inspection team to help identify port operators that allow stockpiles of coal without proper storage areas, such as the Manila Harbour Centre owned by businessman Reghis Romero.

At the same time, Paje said that while he has ordered the LLDA to issue a cease-and-desist order on coal operations of the Romero firm, the LLDA apparently has not carried it out because it was still investigating the matter.

“Whatever is the proposal of LLDA, we will implement it,” said Paje, who also vowed to support and implement the LLDA’s proposed solution to the “massive” coal operations in Manila Bay’s ports.

The DENR chief said he had also ordered the LLDA to conduct water sampling to determine the level of contamination of the waters of Manila Bay, which is directly connected by the Pasig River to the Laguna de Bay, the country’s largest freshwater lake and potential source of potable water in the future.

Paje appealed to civil society and the media for vigilance to boost the agency’s limited resources and capacity to monitor potential threats to the environment, such as Manila Bay.

Manila Bay has been the subject of a Supreme Court continuing mandamus, compelling concerned government agencies to clean up and rehabilitate it back to health.

The DENR chief said that except for Makati, Mandaluyong and San Juan, all 14 cities and one town within the National Capital Region are under the jurisdiction of the LLDA when it comes to protecting water sources from pollution brought by wastewater discharge that eventually leads to Laguna de Bay.

All private ports, according to the LLDA’s Enforcement Division chief Carlo Religioso—chief of staff of LLDA Secretary-General and concurrent Presidential Adviser on Environmental Protection Nerius Acosta, will be given 15 days to comply upon notice.

The LLDA inspection team had submitted its initial report to the agency’s legal department for appropriate action.

According to Paje, it appears that some port operators have, indeed, used their facilities as transfer stations for coal even without necessary environmental clearance certificate from the DENR-EMB.

“As far as I know, only Manila Harbour has an ECC for coal.  But it appears that other private port operators have stockpiles of coal,” he said.

Aside from transferring stockpiles of coal from staging areas along Manila Bay, the LLDA also recommended that port operators’ comply with the ECCs issued by the DENR-EMB and to seek the LLDA’s clearance for their coal operations, as well. 

It was Party-list Rep. Angelo Palmones of Agham who exposed the coal operation of Romero’s company along Manila Bay. He urged the DENR to immediately issue a cease-and-desist order against the company pending the findings of a congressional investigation which he sought to look into the impact of the coal operations on the atmosphere in the area and Manila Bay’s waters, well as the health of the general public and workers who are at risk of illnesses brought about by their exposure to coal.

Palmones also wants to know why the DENR allowed the stockpiling of coal and the liability of Romero’s company for its coal operations.  The congressional inquiry is expected to begin next month.     source