Monday, July 14, 2014

Power firm fined for area damages

Manila Standard Today
By Dexter A. See | Jul. 14, 2014 at 12:01am

SABANGAN, Mountain Province—Hydroelectric Development Corp. and its contractor, Sta. Clara International, were fined P50,000 for violating the environmental compliance certificate (ECC) of the 14-megawatt hydro power plant in barangay Napua here.

Engr. Nestor Donaal, of the Environmental Management Bureau-Cordillera office (EMB-CAR) said the project caused debris to be washed down creeks and tributaries of the Chico river resulting in siltation and degradation of water quality.

“The maximum penalty that EMB is allowed to impose for each of the violations of the company’s environmental compliance certificate is P25,000 per violation that is why we were able to impose the penalty of P50,000 for two violations,” he said.

Earlier, the Sabangan Community Multipartite Monitoring Committee discovered damaged trees, lack of disposal structures, massive deposits of excavated materials during inspection.

“The team will continue performing its of watching over the activities of the power firm and its contractor to prevent pollution and destruction of the environment,” Donaal said.

The villagers also petitioned the Office of the President, Environment Secretary Ramon Paje among other authorities to cancel the ECC issued to the company for jeopardising the sources of water for domestic, irrigation, agriculture, industrial uses in lowland communities.   source

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