Steel plants in Pampanga town told to modernize to reduce pollution

IT’S NOT FOG | A photograph sent by residents of San Simon town in Pampanga shows how smoke emitted by a steel bar manufacturing plant in the town on Jan. 27 has turned the air hazy. (CONTRIBUTED PHOTO)

SAN SIMON, Pampanga, Philippines — The municipal council recently passed an ordinance ordering the five manufacturers of steel bars in the town to modernize production to minimize pollution amid complaints of ill effects on the residents’ health.

A copy of Ordinance No. 003-2023 that was unanimously passed by the council was sent to Mayor Abundio Punsalan Jr. on Feb. 2 for him to act on it in 10 days, Vice Mayor Romanoel Santos told the Inquirer on Monday.

The mayor could opt not to sign the measure and allow it to lapse into law after 10 days or choose to veto the ordinance, Santos said.

“In case he vetoes it, the local council can override his veto, and then the ordinance can be reviewed by the provincial legislative council,” said Santos, who presides over the local council.

The ordinance, which was passed by the council on Feb. 1, aims to strengthen the modernization of companies smelting metal scraps in this town to reduce the impact on the environment.

According to the ordinance, steel companies that would invest, install and modernize their manufacturing of steel billets based on the latest environmentally friendly technology would get incentives.

No opposition

Steel firms Altima, Melters, Wan Chiong, SKK and Real Steel Corp. have not filed written or verbal opposition to the ordinance as of Monday, town council secretary George Cariño said.

Councilor Randie Flores, president of the League of Barangay Captains in the town, sponsored the ordinance following complaints by residents of lung ailments and rusting roofs attributed to smoke emitted by several firms located near Barangays San Pablo Propio, Libutad, Dela Paz, San Isidro and Sta. Monica.

Flores expected Punsalan to veto the ordinance, having learned that the mayor was worried about the closure of steel plants. But the mayor was not immediately available for comments when the Inquirer reached him on Monday.

The Environmental Management Bureau had sent a team to conduct site investigations and test air and water samples on Wan Chiong and Welters from Jan. 25 to Jan. 27, but it has yet to make public a report on the results or issue notices of violations.

Minutes of a Jan. 18 hearing showed that Altima, Melters, Wan Chiong and Real Steel Corp. use induction furnaces to smelt scrap metals, while SKK uses an electric arc furnace.

The five companies make an average of 3,000 tons of steel bars daily, an Inquirer source estimated.

Old ECCs

According to Santos, not all of these companies have updated environmental clearance certificates (ECCs).

“This is why the number of their pollution control devices (PCD) is not proportional to the number of their smelting machines,” he said.

Santos added: “Most of them do not have continuous emission monitoring systems, and they need to have reserved PCD for contingency situations.” A PCD costs around P50 million, said an industry source.

The ordinance cited provisions in the 1987 Constitution and the Local Government Code of 1991 on the right of the people to a balanced and healthy ecology, even as it envisioned the town as the “leader in the manufacturing of steel in the country.”

It gave steel companies a grace period of two years to rehabilitate and improve their PCD, granting them discounts on taxes for three years. Violators face cancellation of the mayor’s permit and fines.

Flores claimed that several small companies that rent warehouses in industrial complexes based in San Simon have been illegally smelting metals.