THE Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) has warned business establishments without a wastewater treatment facility not to ignore its “letter of violation” or face penalty and closure.
EMB 7 Director William Cuñado said they ordered several business establishments to stop discharging untreated wastewater and to coordinate with licensed facility owners to do it.
Untreated wastewater, he said, pollutes waterways and the ocean.
He said that some of the firms that received their letter have committed to install a wastewater treatment facility during a technical conference.
“We are now monitoring them if they do their commitments within a certain period of time,” he said.
Due process
Cuñado said commercial and industrial firms that generate wastewater and continue to violate the law will be referred to the Pollution Adjudication Board (PAB) for computation of penalties and closure of their business.
“We give them due process before we will penalize them,” he said.
Cuñado said the EMB discovered that some firms just connect their chamber tanks to the public drainage system in discharging untreated wastewater.
He said these chamber tanks were approved by the local government unit (LGU) that issued the building permit.
He encouraged LGUs to put up their own water treatment facilities or encourage investors to do it.
Big business centers like the Cebu Business Park and SM City have their own treatment facility, Cuñado pointed out. (EOB)