Power plant blamed for asthma, ash fall cases

CITY OF ILAGAN—Residents in two villages in San Mariano, Isabela, said the operation of a bioethanol plant in the town has put their health and the state of their environment at risk due to ash fall and pollution from the facility.

Residents in the villages of Mallabo and Santa Filomena have blamed the Green Future Innovations Inc. (GFII), the plant’s operator, for cases of asthma and respiratory ailments in their communities.

GFII was certified in 2012 as a renewable energy provider by the Department of Energy. It has been producing up to 13 megawatts of electricity for the Luzon grid.

“We thank you for the pollution, health risks and accidents that you have been giving us. Isabela has been a virtual dumping ground of pollution and stench,” Noel Manuel Lopez, Isabela provincial administrator, said at a meeting of the Task Force Ethanol on Monday.

He assailed GFII for its supposed “lack of extraordinary diligence” in ensuring the safety of residents and the preservation of the environment in its host communities.

Rodolfo Gammad Jr., GFII corporate relations manager, said the company is doing its best to follow environmental standards.

“We will be abiding with whatever the task force wants. In fact, we commit to provide a clinic to serve residents as part of the company’s corporate social responsibility,” he said. “We are committed to ensure the… safety of our facilities and vehicles. We will do our best to help those affected.”

He asked local officials and villagers for understanding, saying ash fall covered sections of these villages in recent days because the plant’s electrostatic precipitator broke down. He said the equipment’s repair or replacement can only be done abroad.

“Let us put it on record that the ash fall did not happen on a year-round basis. It happened [because] the precipitator was damaged. In fact, we will stop sugarcane processing operations by Aug. 24 and the next milling will be in November this year,” he said.

He promised that the plant will not spew out ash once it resumes operations in November.

Lani Soriano, a village councilor in Mallabo, said the company should stop operations immediately. “Why wait after Aug. 24 so they can stop operations? Time and again, we have been pleading the company to exercise extraordinary measures to protect us, but [our pleas have been falling] on deaf ears,” she said.

Lawyer Francisco Meer III, provincial legal officer, also asked company officials to stop dumping liquid wastes in areas not meant for dumping.