Korean firm admits window closing on use of Balili facility

With their contract expiring this month, a South Korean power firm said it would “be next to impossible” to use the coal ash facility in the Capitol-owned Balili property in barangay Tina-an, Naga City.

Lawyer Guillermo Dabay Jr. of the Korean Electric Power Corp.- Salcon Power Plant (Kepco-SPC) said their contract with the province expires on Sept. 30 and there won’t be any chance of renewal.

Dabay said they tried to renew their co-existing agreement with the National Power Corp. (NPC), Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) and the SPC on the Balili ash facility pond to no avail.

“There were attempts to renew the agreement but they were unsuccessful since Psalm felt that the Balili property has ‘other concerns,’” Dabay said.

The Ombudsman-Visayas is investigating a complaint filed by ecology lawyers on the Balili property.

Dabay said he filed a motion for urgent resolution to use the Balili property before the agreement expires.

“We would just focus on the alternative options of disposal,” he said in an interview.

The petitioners for the issuance of an environment protection order (EPO) met for the preliminary-conference in the court of Mandaue Regional Trial court Judge Marilyn Ligura-Yap of Branch 28 yesterday.

In the hearing, Yap asked the Capitol anew on why they signed an agreement to receive Kepco’s coal ash waste when their facility is not yet ready.

“It’s the court’s duty to see to it that the (environment) concerns would be addressed,” Yap said.

Yap also said that, based on the court’s ocular inspection last July 29, it would be difficult for Kepco-SPC to resume plan on dumping their coal ash waste.

“It’s difficult to have the fly ash dumped in Balili,” the judge said.

She required the officials of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the Provincial Planning and Development Office to submit a report on the readiness of the Balili  landfill in Naga.

Yap required the DENR to inform the court about its  review of the  Environment Compliance Certificate (ECC) of the province of Cebu  on the development of the ash pond.

Yap granted the motion filed by Kepco to modify a previous order restricting the disposal of their coal ash waste, by allowing Kepco to dispose to Geo-transport and FDRCON.

However, ecology lawyer Dante Ramos said he might file a motion for reconsideration in the court’s modification order to allow Geo-Transport and FDRCON to receive the coal ash waste since their agreement is still “not yet in place.”

Ramos said both companies didn’t give any explanation to the court on how they would transport the coal ash waste from Kepco-SPC and how they would process it as cement mix and bio-fertilizer.

FDRCON lawyer Ervin Estandarte said they already have an environment compliance certificate for their composting facility authorizing their manufacture of bio-fertilizers from coal ash waste.

But Ramos said a different ECC is required for the coal ash landfill since it has a different standard.

Judge Yap told Geo-Transport and FDRCON to explain to the plaintiffs how the coal ash waste would be transported.

She also allowed the complainant lawyers to inspect their facilities.

Ramos said representatives from the Department of Health will be invited to determine if  the materials from the coal ash waste are safe.

KSPC is pushing its disposal of the remaining 40 tons of their coal ash waste on the Balili ash pond in barangay Tinaan, Naga City.

Among the defendants in the environmental court case are the Cebu provincial government, DENR, Cebu Energy Development Corp. and the local government of Naga and Toledo Cities.

Ecology lawyers complained that coal-fired power plants in the cities of Naga and Toledo were “indiscriminately dumping” toxic coal ash waste.

The court will convene on Jan. 12, 2012, for the pre-trial conference. /Candeze R. Mongaya, Reporter