EMB orders firm to rehabilitate landfill in Bataan

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO –– The Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources has ordered the Econest Waste Management Corp. to immediately rehabilitate its landfill and recover its area in Hermosa town in Bataan.

The 17-page resolution dated Jan. 4 and obtained by the INQUIRER on Jan. 12, has not revoked the Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC), which Mayor Antonio Joseph “Jopet” Inton demanded in a March 2, 2020 letter to the EMB-Central Luzon here.

Inton served the cease-and-desist order on Feb. 20 last year following the absence of a valid discharge permit and hazardous waste generator registration certificate.

In the resolution, EMB Director William Cuñado fined Econest at least P150,000 for violating the conditions in its Environmental Clearance Certificate (ECC).

Cuñado also ordered the removal of hazardous waste for proper treatment and disposal, and proper handling and disposal of the electrical and electronics wiring rubber insulators found stockpiled in the site.

He said the decision to cancel the ECC was “not mandatory but discretionary.”

According to Cuñado, Econest was “able to substantiate its compliance with all the conditions set forth under their ECC.”

“To emphasize, the sudden closure of the Hermosa [sanitary landfill] is a violation of the ECC because, prior to the closure of the sanitary landfill, there ought to be an approved Abandonment plan of a Closure plan for the eventual rehabilitation of the landfill,” Cuñado said.

Cuñado identified Econest President Beulah Coeli Fiel to take full responsibility for compliance with the ECC conditions.

He did not say when Econest could resume operations, although the company has reportedly backed out as the facility’s investor and operator.

Edited by LZB