QC chemical plant closed

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has ordered the closure of a chemical factory in Quezon City, following complaints against air and water pollution from residents living in the area.

Undersecretary for Legal Affairs and Pollution Adjudication Board (PAB) chair Gregorio Cabantac has issued a cease and desist order (CDO) against Spring Manufacturing Corp., a dyeing company located at 72 Judge Juan Luna St., San Francisco Del Monte

According to Cabantac, Spring Manufacturing Corp. has exceeded the DENR standard in sulfur dioxide emission, as the company was found to have been emitting 2,004 mg/ncm as opposed to the 1,500-mg/ncm benchmark.

This, the DENR, said is in violation of RA 8749, or the Clean Air Act, and Presidential Decree No. 904, or the Pollution Control Law of the Philippines.

Apart from this, the DENR-PAB likewise ordered Spring Manufacturing Corp. to use clean fuel and clean technology in operating its 150-Hp bunker oil-fired boiler while the Laguna Lake Development Authority (LLDA) directed the firm to complete its wastewater treatment facility on or before May 12 this year.

Residents and school officials of Juan Luna High School filed the complaint against Spring Manufacturing Corp. for emitting black smoke and discarding boiling and odorous dye wastewater into a nearby creek.

At this point, DENR Secretary Heherson Alvarez urged the local government to re-evaluate its land use policies in order that industries will not operate near residential and commercial communities.

"While these industries may be of value to the community, they must not put in danger the lives of our families, especially our children," he said.

Meanwhile, the DENR announced it is likewise closely coordinating with the management of Sytengco Enterprise Corp., a chemical warehouse in Barangay Paltok, also in Quezon City, that was razed by fire last April 21.

The warehouse, manufacturing candy and snack food, stores ammonium, bicarbonate, calcium hypochlorite, monosodium glutamate, chlor tetracycline, caustic soda, alum potash, urea, and copper sulfate.

The DENR is now helping Sytengco contain the chemicals for proper disposal and treatment, and asked the firm to submit a comprehensive waste management plan.

The Quezon City government has issued a CDO against Sytengco for operating without a mayor’s permit. – Katherine Adraneda