Region to have only 2 landfills

The Mines and Geosciences Bureau approved only two possible sites for sanitary landfills in the region and rejected 10 other sites due to unfavorable conditions in 2006.

In compliance with Republic Act 9003, or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000, and its implementing rules and regulations under Department Administrative Order 2001-34, the MGB conducted site assessment of possible locations of sanitary landfills along with the Environmental Management Bureau.

Roger de Dios, MGB-7 officer-in-charge, in his recent presentation on the status of Sanitary Landfill Site Assessment in Region 7, said there are now 192 approved and recommended sanitary landfill sites since 1994 out of the 201 assessed.

Just last year, only the site in Balamban, Cebu and in Bayawan, Oriental Negros were approved as these are within the required characteristics of a sanitary landfill site.

De Dios said, favorable criteria for site selection include moderate steepness in terms of topography; at least 50 kilometers away from any river, lake or stream; a kilometer away from location of public water supply; 75 meters away from a fault, away from landslide-prone areas and the underlying rock formation should be non-porous and impermeable.

The sites proposed in Moalboal, Badian, Toledo City, and Mandaue City in Cebu; Tagbilaran City, Jagna, and San Isidro in Bohol province and another site in Bayawan, Sta. Catalina and Bacong in Negros Oriental did not meet the criteria mentioned.

Most of the sites were rejected for being too steep or very near bodies of water -either streams, rivers or public water systems.

Since 1994, four sites have been developed to be sanitary landfills in Talisay City, Balamban, Cebu City and Dalaguete and two in Oriental Negros. These are in the cities of Bais and Dumaguete.

Open dumpsites are no longer allowed as they are environmentally detrimental. - Ferliza C. Contratista/MEEV