Posted on August 23, 2016
http://www.bworldonline.com/content.php?section=Corporate&title=semirara-questions-denr-show-cause-order&id=132316
SEMIRARA Mining and Power Corp. (SMPC) raised several issues with the Environment department’s show-cause order, saying the monitoring team’s report showed it met the conditions under its environmental compliance certificate (ECC).
“The company clarified and explained to the DENR-EMB (Department of Environment and Natural Resources-Environmental Management Bureau) that the Company has complied with said ECC conditions,” the Consunji-led company told the stock exchange, referring to the “notice of adverse findings” issued by the agency.
Semirara cited the multipartite monitoring team’s report, covering April to June 2016, which stated that the company had complied with the ECC conditions.
“Stockpiling and disposal of materials generated from the project site were properly and systematically complied,” the report said, according to SMPC.
The DENR on Aug. 12 issued the show-cause letter directing the company to explain within seven days from receipt why its ECC should not be canceled.
The DENR had alleged Semirara did not conduct proper stockpiling and disposal of materials removed from the settling ponds, among others, at the Molave Coal Mine Expansion Project in Caluya, Antique.
Semirara also said the notice did not provide enough information on violation allegedly committed by the firm, particularly on “the specific details on how and where the violation was committed.”
The DENR did not bring up the alleged violations during an inter-agency debriefing session on June 29 to discuss the results of the May 23-27 field visit, the miner said.
Semirara also questioned the date of the issuance of the notice, saying under existing regulations it should have been given to the proponent within 72 hours from the fact-finding/field visit.
According to the company, it received the notice only on Aug. 15, more than 60 days after the field visit ended on May 27.
Shares in Semirara rose 1.52% to close at P113.70 apiece on Monday. -- Janina C. Lim
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