FEATURE: Industrialization vs.the environment?

CEBU, Philippines -  Economically, the City of Naga is considered one of the fastest growing local government in the southern part of Cebu. But while it is enjoying this growth, environmentalists fear that the price of all this is its natural resources.

Last week, divers of the Knight-Stewards of the Sea, Inc. (Seaknights), The Freeman photographer Ferdinand Edralin and this writer dived into the city's "TakotLingin," a marine protected area (MPA) in barangay Inayagan. All prepped to see the towering rock, from which the MPA's name was derived from and the baby sharks said to frequent the site, the group eagerly sought for any of these. At 20 feet, however, the group still could not see a thing, it was all "dusty," thanks to the silts which seemed to be floating in all directions. The group went further down, up to around 50 feet, in hopes to see something of value, yet the scene was no different. Everyone had no choice but to go up and regroup at the waiting pumpboat.

Val Alo, one of the Seaknights divers, said he was prepared for a "low visibility" dive, like in his past dives in the city's seawaters, but what appeared before him was worse than he had imagined. "Zero visibility jud. It was like diving in the outerspace," Alo said.

Marine biologist William Villaver, who has done a number of dive surveys in this area, said siltation is one of the problems of the city's marine sanctuaries. Villaver said it is common in seas adjacent to rivers like in the case of Naga, and when there are industrial plants and facilities along the coastline.

"Siltation can kill the corals because this traps the sunlight. Corals need sunlight to live. If they don't make some mitigating measures, this siltation will further degrade their marine environment in the long run," Villaver said.

Naga has four potential MPAs. Currently, however, only two, the one in Inayagan and the other in Tinaan, just across the City Hall, are protected with marine buoys and guard houses. But while these could become sources of more marine products and potential dive sites, possibly adding more income to the city's coffers in the future, a cement factory, a coal plant, a livestock feeds company and other establishments along the coastlines may impede these hopes.

In early 2011, the Seaknights, a pro-environment non-government organization, discovered what seemed like a boiling abyss in the seawater surface about 50 meters from the Kepco-Salcon Power Corp. (KSPC) facility (this story was published in The Freeman on March 23, 2011). It was later on learned that KSPC's exhaust pipe, laid 15 feet underwater, was causing the great bubbles every time it releases water believed to be used in cooling off its machines. Using a thermometer, the Seaknights measured the surrounding water's temperature, and discovered it was 30.1 degrees Celsius, and it was only 7:71a.m. Fr. Charlie Orobia, the group's vice president, who was studying marine biology at that time, said the seawater temp should not go beyond 25 degrees C, otherwise marine lives would suffer from thermal pollution, corals would bleach out and die eventually. The seabed in this area was also buried with a foot thick of silts, reportedly remnants of chlorine. Chlorine is reportedly mixed in the water when cleaning the underwater pipes, to prevent these from accumulating rust.

The local fishermen also alleged that chlorine had caused fish kills in the area and its neighboring locations. Fisherman Berting Aliason, in an interview with The Freeman at that time, said in some occasions they would see several fishes floating near the KSPC plant, and blamed the smelly chlorinated seawater for it. The KSPC management, however, denied they use chlorine in cleaning their pipes, and that there was thermal pollution in the background. "We were informed by our plant site personnel that even if the surface water temperature rises to 30.5 degrees C. This means that the increase in water temperature is within standards as up to 30 degrees C is allowed. Moreover, the plant does not use chlorine in cleaning its pipes," a portion of the statement released by KSPC to The Freeman on March 23, 2011. With KSPC's statement and with the finding of the city-commissioned second test at the site, Mayor Valdemar Chiong said the water temperature, 29 degrees C during that test, was normal.

The bubbling effect was still there in front of KSPC last week, but Acting Mayor Delfin Señor said there was no more fish kill incidents reported in the area, and that local fishermen have been enjoying an abundant catch. But he said the city government will push KSPC to follow the approved pipe design. He said under this design, the pipe should run from 400 to 600 meters from the shoreline, to allow the exiting water to cool off before reaching the ocean.

The unmistakable presence of silts, meanwhile, is from the neighboring river, which could result to low visibility especially during floods, Señor explained. But the acting mayor admitted that in the past two weeks, Cemex, a cement factory that also has facilities along the coastlines, has been dredging the silted seabed to make room for the passing big boats.

“Mag-dredge na sila every three years. Tungod sa siltation masangad ang ilang barko,” said Señor. He also said that the dust-like particles could also be from the dredged silts, which were haphazardly dumped near the marine sanctuaries. Señor said the agreement was supposed to be 12 kilometers from the shoreline, but it appears that the contractor would want to save on gasoline. “Ipatawag na nato sa environmental officer,” he said.

Señor said a big chunk of the city's annual income-at P600 million for this year - is from the taxes of these major industries. KEPCO, a 200-megawatt power plant, which started operating last year, contributes P200 million to this income;Cemex comes second with its multi-million annual taxes. But the acting mayor clarified they don't protect these investors from sanctions if they are found to have violated the environment laws. He said they closely coordinate with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) for regular monitoring of these firms'operations. In the field, Naga's Bantay Dagat personnel work round-the-clock, and the Environment Office regularly hold meetings with the representatives of these companies, Señor added.

Señor said the city is aware of what may happen if its seas are exposed unprotected, especially that more and more boats are coming to their direction because of these international companies operating in their midst. He said Mayor Valdemar Chiong, who is in the USA until mid June, already has plans to rehabilitate and install floaters and guard houses in their other two potential MPAs, to increase fish production as these would serve as nurseries for smaller fishes, and reduce, if not stop, grounding incidents through the presence of floaters and signs. Last month, two boats ran aground in the shallow part in one of these potential marine sanctuaries. Señor said, apart from a torn line of sinkers, no corals were damaged. Grounding incidents are common in this area, which gets shallower during low tides and siltation, especially that it is regularly visited by cargo ships or other bigger boats that carry items like coal, cement and others. Señor blamed the latest incidents to the non-functioning signal lights in Cemex's jetty. He said he would call the company's attention to have those lights fixed, and soon put up solar-powered lights in their guardhouses to warn the passing boats. And in view of the rising cases of grounding, Señor said they are currently drafting an ordinance penalizing the negligent marine vessels in their seawaters. But for the moment, he said fees to be used in rehabilitating the damaged area are collected from the erring boats.

There are a lot of negative things being said about Naga's alleged deteriorating environment: the dying seas, the balding forests (caused by limestone quarrying), the coal ash spewed from the power plants, among others. But Señor said they are on top of all that, regulating and monitoring these activities. Five percent of their forests may be balding per year because of the quarry operations, but he said they make sure that trees are re-planted. They also don't give long-term contracts to the miners, including Cemex-which has an existing 10-year agreement with the city, he said, so that the next administration, or whoever sits as mayor and vice mayor, would still have the rights to allow these companies to continue their operation or not. 

The public's health is also not an issue, the acting mayor shared. Just last year, coal ash from KEPCO was blamed for the dirty air hanging in one of the city's barangays. Chiong then ordered the company to up its fence to contain the coal cash in its premises. Señor said based on the reports of the doctors they send weekly to the city's barangays, no pollution-related illnesses were recorded. The number of diseases reported to them is very minimal, he said.

Señor said they have a lot to be thankful for because these firms have provided jobs for the people of Naga. A total of 70 percent of Naga residents are now employed, following a provision stipulated by their local government in the contract with the different firms. If before there were several families who thrived in fishing, today, only a few have remained, as most are already working in KSPC, Cemex, B-Meg, among others, he said.

“Og wa ni'ng mga kompanyaha, among income mura ra gyud siguro og sa munisipyo, mangisda na lang pud kasagaran sa mga amahan diri,” Senor said. But while they have these benefits, they also have their responsibilities, to the environment, he said. -/QSB (FREEMAN)