SAN Carlos City Mayor Renato Gustilo has ordered the temporary closure of San Carlos Bioenergy, Inc. (SCBI) due to alleged violations.
In a letter dated February 18, 2021 to SCBI, Gustilo cited several environmental violations the said company committed, including a series of incidents of water discoloration along the coastal waters of So. Maloloy-on, Barangay Punao due to its wastewater discharges.
Some footage and reports from the City Planning and Development Coordinator’s Office, Bantay Katunggan of the Coastal Resource Management of the City Environment Management Office (CRM-Cemo), Eco-Zone Multi-Partite Monitoring Team (MMT), and City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office were also included as pieces of evidence to said violations.
He also cited in the letter that the mitigating measures undertaken by the SCBI were not enough to cushion the negative impact of water pollution.
Engineer Arthur Batomalaque, senior environment management specialist of Cemo, said they have already referred the recurring incidents of water discoloration, foul smell and other environment issues committed by SCBI to the Pollution Adjudication Board (PAB) of the DENR for a possible case, which said the company was already penalized.
Only the coastal waters were greatly affected by the effluence from the said plant since based on the continuous monitoring of the MMT eco-zone locators, including testing at accredited labs, the local groundwater wells remained unsullied, Batomalaque added.
Melvin Maglayon of CRM-Cemo and Conservation Fellow of the Fishforever program of the city said any industrial waste that reaches the sea is very harmful because pollutants can lower dissolved oxygen levels, causing a fish kill.
“It decreases fish catch among fishermen near the area and affects tourism as well if pollutants reach tourist spot like Sipaway Island,” he said.
Gustilo sternly warned that the city government would recommend to the Environment Management Bureau of the DENR the issuance of its cease-and-desist order if the recurring issues were not solved soon. (With reports from San Carlos PIO)