First Posted 08:53:00 12/01/2010
Cebu’s environmental court judge and otehr parties yesterday inspected the coal ash pond of a coal-fired power plant in Toledo City.
Regional Trial Court Judge Marilyn Yap of Branch 28 led the ocular inspection of the ash pond of Toledo Power Plant-Cebu Energy Development Corp. (TPC-CEDC), which is managed by San Vic Enterprises in the mountains of barangay Landahon, Toledo City.
The inspection aims to help the court decide on a complaint for the issuance of an environmental protection order (EPO) filed by three environmentalist groups against coal-fired power plants in Cebu, government agencies and local government units.
Petitioners said the indiscriminate dumping of coal ash wastes poses harm to the health and the environment.
Lawyer Ben Cabrido of the Philippine Earth Justice Center Inc. said yesterday’s site visit strengthened their case.
“It exposed their operation protocol, which did not follow provisions of the law,” Cabrido told CEBU DAILY NEWS.
He said the coal-fired power plant violated provisions from RA 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2009.
He said the pond did not follow the requirement of a double cover of limestone and geo-synthetic material. The pond only has a geo-synthetic cover that controls the odor and the bio-gas.
The pond also does not have a fence to control seepage to the aquifer.
They were also not shown a copy of the design of operational procedures, according to Cabrido.
Vince Cinches, one of the petitioners in the case, said the ash pond could even be categorized into a “pond.”
“They flattened the middle part of the mountain and dumped the coal ash there,” Cinches said.
“Their blatant disregard for the environment is very obvious,” he added.
He said the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) 7 should also look into the pond to see the violations.
Cabrido also criticized the DENR Environmental Management Bureau for ignoring the violations of the power plant.
Cabrido said they would submit a position paper in court based on the ocular inspection.
In a text message to CEBU DAILY NEWS, the Cebu Energy Development Coorp (CEDC) said San Vic had secured all the necessary permits, which include an Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC) from the DENR to operate the ash landfill activity.
“The landfill facility also fulfilled and complied with all legal requisites and government regulations,” the CEDC said.
Last Nov. 17, the court made its first ocular inspection in Toledo City and Naga City, but was not able to visit the ash pond of TPC-CEDC because of time constraints.
During that ocular inspection, Yap took photos of coal ash that has been covered with soil.
But some ash waste material was still visible on the top soil. The DENR-7 took samples from the sites visited by the team.
Lawyer Trannie Ferrer of the DENR said they took a one kilogram sample of coal ash waste from each site.
She said the coal ash samples would be sent to the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) in Manila for toxicity tests.
Ferrer said that if they pass the standard, this will prove that legal requirements were satisfied.
Last Aug. 20, the court issued a three-day TEPO following the filing of the petition against the coal ash dumping.
The court denied the petition to extend the duration of the order.
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