THE Manapla Distillery operated by Victorias Milling Company (VMC) plant goes on a temporary shutdown to fast-track the completion of environmental improvements for a more sustainable and cleaner industrial plant.
VMC allocated over P100 million to address the environmental concerns in the distillery and in fulfillment of their commitment to reducing the overall environmental impact of their operations, management decided to temporarily shut down the plant and go full blast in their upgrading.
The company acknowledged the concerns raised by the communities surrounding the distillery and this prodded management to continue with their upgrade plans that were stalled when the province went on lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We resumed normal operations in response to the need for ethyl alcohol production during this pandemic – most of which have been donated to LGUs and various frontline agencies,” VMC President Minnie Chua said.
However, VMC also saw the need to comply with their commitment to the communities and finish the upgrades “so we can re-start our operation with much improvement in our environmental performance,” Chua added.
VMC invested in modern structures and technological processes to eliminate odor emanating from its operation among which is the installation of an Anaerobic Digester to lessen the presence of odor-causing bacteria in the slops by 60 to 70 percent and converting it to biogas; an Automatic Flaring System to eliminate odor-causing gases; and improvements in wastewater treatment methods at the aeration ponds such as filtration, aeration and dosing of enzymes to counteract the odor-causing chemical reaction in the digesters. Additional units of aspirating surface aerators in the Aeration Ponds to help eliminate odor were also installed.
Moreover, a fertilization program is being implemented educating target beneficiaries on the proper application of slops by-products as an alternative to chemical fertilizers to farmlands. This will improve soil conditions and at the same time, reduce production costs and increase the income of the farmers. Fertilization is an organic process that was developed by UPLB and has been tried in other cane plantations in Luzon.
All upgrades to improve wastewater volume reduction and treatment processes are expected to be completed within the third quarter of this year.
VMC is also conducting tree planting activities in areas surrounding the industrial and natural polishing lagoons and aeration ponds to serve as natural air purifiers.
The company is working closely with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) and has established a Multi-partite Monitoring Team with the LGUs of Manapla and Cadiz involving government officials, environmental agencies and members of the communities to work hand-in-hand in preserving the environment. While this is no longer a requirement by EMB, VMC believes this will set up a proper venue to raise and resolve issues immediately. (PR)