THE private transfer station in Barangay Inayawan, Cebu City has violated four conditions in its environmental compliance certificate (ECC), the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) 7 said.
During an inspection last June 19, EMB engineers found that Evo Enviro Solutions, Inc. has been using the site as a transfer station, which is not within its ECC’s project description. In their 2012 application for operation, the owners of Evo declared that it would be a waste management project.
The inspection came after Councilor Joel Garganera asked the EMB to check the facility, saying it already looked like a landfill.
The environmental agency also found that Evo has been operating without permits, such as a permit to operate, discharge permit and a hazardous wastes generator’s identification card.
It had also failed to submit regularly the required semi-annual compliance monitoring report, and has not implemented any mitigation measures as far as its activities in the site are concerned.
The EMB said that the ongoing operations at the transfer station have not met the minimum requirements mandated by law.
For one, the facility in Inayawan does not have the facilities to ensure that the trash does not come in contact with run-off water to prevent leachate.
The recent transition between service providers in the City Government has also led to garbage build-up in the site, which violates the mandate of the EMB that all garbage deposited in the transfer station must be removed within 24 hours.
Pasajero Motors Corp. (Pamocor) works on finishing the hauling of deposited trash to the private landfill in Consolacion by the end of the week.
The EMB will issue a notice of violation and will invite the owners of Evo for a technical conference. Fines will also be imposed on them.
In an interview yesterday, Garganera urged Evo to address immediately their violations.
“It’s clear that they’re inefficient in running their facility. The stench of the garbage in the transfer station is enough to prove their mismanagement. I’m not really moving for closure, but at least they should exert their best to address this,” he said.
Sought for comment, Mayor Tomas Osmeña said the findings will not stop the City from using the facility.
He said he wants to have the city’s trash collected as “cheaply as possible” and that Garganera just wants the City to spend more.
“He’s just looking for technical reasons to disqualify, so that we’ll end up spending more money and they will not stop. That’s why I’m glad that we now have full control of the City Council as of this moment,” Osmeña said.
He said that up to P60,000 for every 600 tons of trash collected daily will be saved if the City has its own transfer station.