Capiz town orders power firm closure

ROXAS CITY—The Panitan municipal government on Thursday ordered the temporary closure of a power generation facility that leaked oil into a creek that leads to the province’s main water source.

The Enervantage Suppliers Co. Inc. (ESCI), a power generation firm located in Barangay Timpas, was closed down 5 p.m. on Thursday in compliance with the cease-and-desist order signed by Panitan Mayor Katherine Dequiña-Belo.

The closure order was issued after the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council  and the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources confirmed the oil leak.

The oil leak started on Feb 2. But when an ocular inspection was conducted by environment officials, there were still traces of the oil leak.

Belo said the closure was without prejudice to the final recommendation of the EMB in Western Visayas, which would be discussed in a meeting on Monday in Iloilo City.

ESCI, a power generation company, supplies 3.5 megawatts of power to the Capiz Electric Cooperative (Capelco), the lone distributor of power in Roxas City and the province.

Edgar Diaz, Capelco general manager, said the shutdown would not greatly affect their operation since the bulk of power came from the Green Core, the Panay Energy Development Corp. and the Wholesale Electricity Stock Market.

Timpas village chief Liberato Degones Jr. has told the provincial board in a report that the fuel emitted foul odor and had spread to the nearby rice field and the canal leading to Tipas Creek, which also leads to the Panay River, the main water source of Metro Roxas Water District (MRWD).

The oil spill alarmed the residents because they feared it might affect their livelihood and contaminate the Panay River, said Degones.

Dionisio Molina Jr., Capiz provincial environment and natural resources officer, has confirmed that the oil spill threatened to contaminate the Panay River.

The MRWD’s water treatment plant is located in Barangay Salocon Panitan, some 2 kilometers away from the ESCI plant.

Molina sent environment specialist Marlon Bonete to oversee the operation to contain the oil spill. Mitigating measures have been applied such as trapping the oil spill with the use of rice husk and bamboo slots, he added.

Reyno Garcia, ESCI managerial consultant and engineer, said on Tuesday that 150 liters of bunker fuel wastes leaked from the broken oil seal of a generator on Feb. 2.

But engineer Jimmuel Capillo, one of the ESCI consultants, told the Inquirer that company personnel conducted an oil filtration by putting up rice husks at the creek which absorbed the oil floating in the water.

Because of the measures implemented by the company, only about 20 liters to 30 liters of oil reached Panay River, Garcia added.

To ensure that the incident would not happen again, the company would be changing the design of the waste canal by connecting it directly to the waste deposit, Garcia said.