SOME residents of two barangays in Toledo City complained of skin and respiratory illnesses which, they said, were caused by the ashes and stench coming from a nearby power plant.
But a team from the Toledo City Environment and Natural Resources Office went to the barangays Thursday, Oct. 10, 2019, and did not notice any stench.
The Therma Visayas Inc. (TVI) that runs the coal-fired power plant, meanwhile, said it is taking measures to address the community’s complaints. Possible source of the foul smell is the spontaneous combustion inside the coal dome. Dust found outside the coal dome was caused by prolonged storage of coal but these will soon be addressed when the coal is moved and used. It would provide residents a timeline of the actions it will take to address residents’ concerns, the TVI statement said.
Vicente Kabatuan, 68, a resident of Barangay Bato, said the respiratory illnesses and skin irritation he, his wife and their neighbors developed were due to the stench and dust from the coal-fired power plant of TVI,a joint venture of Aboitiz Power Corp. and Vivant Corp.
Kabatuan said he is one of the many residents who experienced fever and skin itchiness. Some of the residents, particularly children, experienced cough, colds and nausea due to the foul odor and ashes from the power plant.
He said the area will be covered at night with what appears to be fog but it is smoke from the power plant.
He added that the smell depends on the wind direction. When it blows from the south, his barangay gets affected. When from the north, the other barangay gets the stench.
Christine Dolino, a resident of Sitio Bokalor, Barangay Cabitoonan, said they also developed respiratory diseases and itchiness. This is aside from the noise they suffer coming from the power plant.
At night, some residents from the area complained of the noise. Houses made of light materials, they said, would even shake from the vibration. Kabatuan said Aboitiz Power conducted a medical mission in their area last Oct. 5 and as part of what they do every three months.
Dolino and Kabatuan said they already sent petition letters to their respective barangays regarding their complaints. The same petitions were sent to the office of Rep. Pablo John Garcia (Cebu, 3rd district).
The TVI, in a statement, said it has been conducting information education campaigns to receive complaints, concerns and recommendations on how they can improve.
“TVI has identified that the possible source of the smell is the spontaneous combustion inside the coal dome. The dust found outside the coal dome was caused by prolonged storage of coal due to the outage of Unit 1 and Unit 2 of TVI,” the statement said.
“Spontaneous combustion is a natural occurrence of coal and can be managed operationally, among others, through the compacting of coal,” it said.
“Both Unit 1 and Unit 2 of TVI are back online which should help mitigate these issues as the coal inside the coal dome can now be moved and used. The plant operations team is continuously looking for ways to improve and we will address the complaint as well as provide a timeline once available,” TVI said.
A plant can be online, but not yet officially up and running but can go down anytime. Part of the testing and commissioning process, TVI said.
The 170-MW Unit 2 is on commercial operations, delivering power to the Visayan Electric and other customers. (KFD)