THE Environmental Management Bureau (EMB)-Cordillera has asked the Baguio City government to apply disinfectants at its waste transfer facility to minimize the stench.
“May we respectfully call your attention to the stated recommendations in the report and that we are fervently hoping that you will cause for the immediate implementation of the same,” EMB-CAR regional director Reynaldo Digamo said.
Based on the monitoring report, recommendations were made for the city government to continuously record the incoming as well as outgoing waste from the transfer station.
Moreover, the city must regularly apply deodorizer or disinfectants to abate any foul odor before the waste is hauled to the Urdaneta Sanitary Landfill in Pangasinan.
Baguio City has been dumping its waste at a temporary transfer station along Marcos Highway near Tuba, Benguet.
The joint monitoring teams from the Office of the City Mayor, Municipal Environment and Natural Resources Officer, Sangguniang Bayan of Tuba, City Solid Waste Management Division led by General Service Office OIC Eugene Buyucan conducted monitoring last month in the area as an offshoot of the separate inspection reports from several offices.
From March 3 to April 3, 2018, an average of 159.33 tons of waste are dumped at the transfer station daily.
The transfer station caters to 128 barangays of Baguio City as well as the public market, parks and commercial establishments. It operates from 4 a.m. until 10 p.m. daily.
The waste is removed from the transfer station within 24 hours.
The report said the stench was still tolerable. The steel plates and chutes of the facility have been installed.
The EMB-Cordillera earlier vowed to tightly monitor Baguio City’s waste transfer station.
Alex Luis, chief of the EMB-CAR Environmental Monitoring and Enforcement Division, said a previous order from the regional director directed the continuous monitoring of the transfer station’s operations to avert any negative environmental effects.
Luis added as per letter of the Department of Agriculture, the waste transfer facility will be operational until April 1, 2019.