Entry of ‘toxic’ materials for port project stopped

LAOAG CITY—The Ilocos Norte government has stopped the importation of suspected toxic materials from Taiwan meant to be used by a sand exporter for its proposed seaport expansion project in the province.

Erme Labayog, chair of the provincial quarry council (PQC), said the importation by Omnico Natural Resources Inc. (Onri) of blast furnace slag had been suspended pending a reexamination and validation test if the materials were safe and would not threaten the province’s marine ecosystem.

Blast furnace slag is a nonmetallic byproduct of iron and steel production. The US-based National Slag Association said on its website (https://www.

nationalslag.org/blast-furnace

-slag), that during the period of cooling and hardening from its molten state, blast furnace slag can be cooled in several ways to form any of several types of products.

During an inspection on April 8, Labayog said a team from the PQC and the provincial environment and natural resources office found a stockpile of what appears like mixed gravel and sand, and blast furnace slag, about 20 meters high, at the northern portion of Onri seaport complex here.

Six of the nine shipments from Taiwan had been delivered here, he said.

Alma Kho, Onri vice president for finance and administration, said several laboratory tests conducted before the importation found the materials safe for backfilling.

Kho, in a letter to Gov. Imee Marcos on April 9, attached several photocopied documents about slag aggregates, results of physical and chemical analyses and a guarantee issued by the Taiwan-based China Steel Corp. that the blast furnace slag will not cause mercury pollution.

An analysis conducted by SGS Taiwan has been revalidated by its Philippine counterpart, she said.

“SGS Taiwan and SGS Philippines collaborated to extract water samples from the proposed site [on

Feb. 25] to establish a baseline data on the present sea-water condition and the same shall be periodically tested while the project is already on the construction stage,” Kho said.

She said the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) had certified that the materials do not pose a hazard to coastal waters. The document, signed by Benedicto Molano, environmental management specialist and head of the clearance and permitting division of the EMB, was authenticated by the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in the Philippines.

Labayog said there was still a need to revalidate the laboratory tests, noting that the basis of the EMB certification was the company’s test results and not tests on actual samples delivered to Onri’s seaport.

“What we are concerned about is if these are indeed safe …. In the meantime, we requested [Onri] to stop the shipment until we get a confirmation from concerned authorities,” he said.