Alvarez oks Bataan dump site for Metro garbage

Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Heherson Alvarez has given the go-signal for the establishment of an interim controlled dump in Bagac, Bataan that would accommodate the estimated 6,000 to 8,000 metric tons of garbage produced daily by households and private and public offices in Metro Manila.

Alvarez said the proposed interim landfill covering a 300-hectare property located in Sitio Anyasas, Quinawan, Bagac, Bataan was the subject of an intensive environmental study of the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB).

"The site will be converted later into a sanitary landfill as part of the implementation of the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act where controlled dump should be upgraded into landfill," Alvarez said.

Bagac, Bataan Mayor Norberto Ricardo had earlier asked the DENR to issue a permit for the proposed interim controlled dump.

Ricardo said that a study of the site to secure an environmental compliance certificate (ECC) is already in an advanced stage and the environmental impact statement (EIS) is nearly completed.

"With the full and enthusiastic support of my council, I believe that this land, combined with the environmentally sound proposal of Waste Management Industries, Inc. (WMI), will solve the pressing solid waste problems of both Bataan and Metro Manila," Ricardo said.

Alvarez said that the DENR is conducting a review of the proposed waste management plan prepared by the Waste Management Industries Inc. (WMI).

Plans are to store the garbage at the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP) for four to six weeks while it prepares its facility for the long-term disposal of garbage at its site in Quinauan, Bagac, only some 20 kilometers to the south of BNPP.

Alvarez said under the WMI’s waste management plan, garbage from Metro Manila will be piled temporarily at Pier 18 in Vitas, Manila through an uncontrolled dumpsite.

"The garbage will then be loaded onto an LCT barge for transport to the temporary storage site at BNPP," Alvarez added.

He said that a contract for the emergency disposal site of the uncontrolled dump at Vitas has been signed with the City of Manila.

"It (WMI) plans to commence the project immediately after the BNPP gives its consent to use its site for temporary storage and after the NHA (National Housing Authority) gives its consent to use the Vitas pier," Alvarez said. — Jose Rodel Clapano