ETHANOL producer Roxol Bioenergy Corp. (RBC) is open to discussions with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) on addressing water pollution problem in rivers of Pontevedra town, a top official said Thursday, March 2.
Florencio Mamauag Jr., vice president for legal and corporate affairs of RBC's mother company Roxas Holdings Inc., told reporters in Bacolod City that although their ethanol plant in Barangay Nagasi in La Carlota City has not caused the fishkill in three barangays of the neighboring town, they are willing to extend help in containing the reported contamination, if necessary.
Mamauag said that even before the fishkill, the company has already been doing such measures and they remain willing to actively help out.
"We have been very conscious of our environmental concerns. As a publicly-listed company, we see to it that we comply with environmental laws," he added.
Al Orolfo, regional director of DENR-Negros Island Region, said Thursday that the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) needs five more days before it can release the result of the water sample analysis.
Orolfo earlier said that pending the result of the test, they will ask the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources to conduct studies on the effects of the contamination to fish production in the area.
He added that they will also check whether there is a need for total clean-up of the affected river.
Dead fish like tilapia were found floating in the upstream portions of the river in Barangay San Juan last week.
According to the Community Environment and Natural Resources Office (Cenro) in Bago City, the water contamination has spread to two more barangays.
Initially, Cenro-Bago suspected that the water pollution was caused by the ethanol plant's wastewater being discharged to the river connecting the two localities.