THE management of a private landfill in the northern town of Consolacion has temporarily stopped accepting trash from its clients until it can complete clearing operations.

A hillside portion of the landfill collapsed Saturday afternoon, May 4, burying alive a driver aboard his six-wheeler dumptruck.

In a phone interview on Monday, May 6, Consolacion Local Disaster Risk Reduction Management Officer Danilo Capangpangan said the driver, identified as 34-year-old Rodolfo Malasaga, had been missing since Saturday afternoon (not alive with minor injuries as reported earlier). His truck was torn in two.

Malasaga drove for a private hauling company.

The landfill management called off its search and rescue operation Sunday night, May 5.

Capangpangan said they took over looking for Malasaga’s body Monday morning, but they could only do so for five days.

“The management of the landfill decided to have a temporary lockdown on their operations until they can finish clearing operations. They are also very strict that only the local disaster office personnel are allowed to go inside the premises for now due to safety reasons,” he said.

Capangpangan said the firm had just started using the collapsed portion of the landfill.

The local disaster office’s investigation revealed that rains in the past two days led to the incident.

Capangpangan suspected that rainwater might have seeped in, weakening the integrity of the landfill.

He explained that a layer of soil is poured on top of every layer of garbage dumped to serve as cover.

“We’re already coordinating with the Environmental Management Bureau 7 on the matter. We will also review the firm’s waste disposal plan and procedure to avoid untoward incidents,” Capangpangan said.

He said last Saturday’s collapse was the first in the landfill’s nine years of operation.

The local disaster officer assured that there were no other casualties as the nearest house was a kilometer away.

With the temporary closure of the landfill, Capangpangan said they might have to resort to using their material recovery facility to manage the town’s solid waste. (RTF)