Violation notice, P200-T fine for coal ash pond in Balili lot

For cutting coconut trees without a permit in the Balili property and not complying with three previous requirements, the Capitol yesterday received a notice of violation of its Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC).

The trees were cut in a 23.2-hectare area being developed as a secured landfill for storing coal ash waste expected to come from the newly inaugurated power plant of the Korean Electric Company-SPC in Naga City.

This marked the first time the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in Central Visayas (DENR-7) cited violations in the Capitol’s landfill project in barangay Tinaan, Naga.

Four violations were noted.

The notice said the Capitol failed to set up a multipartite monitoring team to oversee construction of the coal ash facility.

The Capitol also failed to submit an agreement to establish a P5-million Environment Guarantee Fund (EGF) to cover expenses for assessments or damage to the environment.

The Province also failed to submit a semiannual monitoring report, which predicts the impact and management measures in the Environmental Monitoring Plan.

In building the landfill, the ECC required that layers of crushed sand, gravel liner and bentonite clay should cover the ash pond, but DENR inspectors found the site only covered with limestone and high density polyethylene.

A technical conference is set on July 12 with the DENR and the Capitol’s planning office to discuss these violations.

Under the ECC, each violation can draw a fine of P50,000 or lead to the suspension and cancellation of the certificate.

The 2009 purchase of the Balili property by the Capitol is under a separate investigation by the Ombudsman’s Office, which found the deal irregular partly based on a DENR survey that found most of the area classified as timberland and submerged in water.

The DENR-7 said the province will be made to explain their noncompliance of the ECC for the secured landfill.

Capitol spokesman Rory Jon Sepulveda said province officials will issue a statement after receiving a copy of the notice.

The use of the Balili lots as a coal ash waste storage site was prohibited earlier by Judge Marilyn Ligura Yap of the Mandaue Regional Trial Court, which is hearing an environmental case filed by ecology groups who warned that coal ash waste would harm public health and marine biodiversity in the area.

The groups asked the court to void the agreement signed by the Province and Korean Electric Power Corp. (Kepco) that would allow dumping 260 tons of coal ash waste daily in the next 25 years.

Last March 16, the judge extended the effectivity of a prior Temporary Environment Protection Order, requiring coal-fired plants in Naga and Toledo Cities not to dispose of or transport their coal ash waste outside their premises.

Under its agreement with the Capitol, Kepco would pay the Province of Cebu $1 per ton of coal ash waste delivered to the landfill.

Lawyer Gloria Estenzo Ramos of the Philippine Earth Justice Center (PEJC) and one of the petitioners said the DENR-7 should file criminal charges against the Capitol since cutting trees without a permit is a criminal offense.

Aaron Pedrosa of the Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC) said the DENR’s issuance of the ECC without a public hearing is already contrary to the Environmental Impact Assessment.