Group airs warning vs used transformers

MANILA, Philippines - An environmental group has issued a warning against the hazards posed by transformers that contain PCB or plychlorinated biphenyls.

Department of Environment and Natural Resources said there are around 7,000 tons of PCBs all around the country, waiting to be spilled into the environment.

Greenpeace officer Abigail Aguilar, a toxic campaigner, said PCB is also present in flourescent or bulbs that household use.

Aguilar said the Department of Energy and the DENR have jointly signed an agreement to create a regulated dumping site, but for unknown reason it did not prosper.

Transformers made in the 60’s and 70’s were declared phased out, but they are still found in many old facilities, including buildings that use, produce or distribute large quantities of electricity.

Environmentalists and health officials said exposure to PCBs may cause cancer, birth and developmental defects in infants and children, damage to the liver and other internal organs, hormonal changes and effects on reproductive organs, skin diseases toxicity to wildlife and the environment, and it is classified as persistent organic pollutants (POP) that persist in the environment and bio-accumu,ates in the food web.

People maybe exposed to PCBs through contact with oil, contaminated soil or water, and by eating exposed food such as fish and vegetables.

The DENR is aware of the problem. In fact, the department together with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (Unido) started to build a treatment facility in the industrial park of the Philippine National Oil Company (PNOC) in Mariveles, Bataan province, which was completed in 2010. However, the facility did not assume commercial operation, to the dismay of PCB owners. The government spent P150 million for the building of the disposal. The project was jointly funded by Global Environment Facility (GEF), and implemented by Unido. GEF provided $4 million for the project.

The DENR, in a memorandum signed by the late secretary Angelo Reyes gave an ultimatum to companies to dispose their stored PCB wastes by 2007. The deadline was adjusted for failure of the Unido to operate the facility.

Seven years had passed and the country, its people, including animals and vegetation of all sizes, are in danger of being contaminated.

Meanwhile, the PCB transformers made in the 60’s and 70’s are getting rust, deteriorated and the leaked oil have penetrated the soil, and may have reached the groundwater.

Just imagine the catastrophe this may cause to mankind, to Filipinos in particular.

And there is no way to reverse it, since the leaked oil persist for decades. Meaning, generations will get the brunt.