DENR slaps P150K penalty on Consolacion landfill operator

CEBU, Philippines - The Environmental Management Bureau (EMB)- 7 of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) 7 imposed a penalty of P150,000 to Asian Energy systems Corporation (AEC).

According to DENR 7 Regional Executive Director Dr. Isabelo Montejo, this developed after four environmental compliance certificate (ECC) violations were committed by the company on its Consolacion sanitary landfill, methane recovery and power generation facilities in Barangay Polog in Consolacion, Cebu.

“This is part of the process that we are trying to follow consistent with our existing environmental laws and regulations by allowing the company to explain and ask for a commitment on certain violations so that corrective or preventive measures will be instituted,” said Montejo in a statement.

DENR-7 spokesperson Ed Llamedo said that the penalty is based on the Table 2.3 of the New Revised Procedural Manual for violating ECC conditions on the failure to implement mitigating enhancement measures on the predicted impact management plan and failure to secure a discharge permit in compliance with the Philippine Clean Water Act of 2004 or Republic Act No. 9275.

Other violations under the revised procedural manual was on the failure to submit a semi-annual compliance monitoring report (CMR) and the failure to submit an approved memorandum of agreement (MOA) for the establishment of a Multipartite Monitoring Team (MMT).

In a technical conference last September 27, AEC Project Director Benjie Villarin Tadique committed to pay the reduced penalty in the amount of P150,000 on or before December 31 this year.

The said conference was presided over by EMB 7 Regional Director William Cuñado and witnessed by Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) consultant Andres Muego and Atty. Danilo Sinugbuhan.

The commitment sheet further indicated that the maximum penalty of P50,000 for each ECC violation condition shall be imposed for failure to pay the reduced penalty after the due date, Llamedo said.

Aside from paying the fine, the AEC promised to implement all mitigating measures as stated in the ECC such as to cover landfill with top soil, to comply of waste water treatment facility and to approve or sign a MOA to operate the MMT on or before April 2014.

“We have been regularly conducting a close monitoring on companies with ECCs to check if they have been compliant with some conditions as stipulated,” Montejo said.

Cuñado issued a notice of violation last August 22 to AEC following an EMB compliance evaluation report (CER) for EIA-Integrated System (IS) conducted last August 19 which noted some violations.

The EMB 7 issued the ECC to AEC last February 9, 2010 which covers total land area of 69,536 square meters on its Consolacion sanitary landfill, methane recovery and power generation facilities, Llamedo said.

The said facility has a total landfill capacity of 1.8 million metric tons of municipal domestic waste only at a daily input of 1,200 metric tons and four megawatts power plant using methane gas generated by the methane recovery facilities, Llamedo added. — (FREEMAN)