Coal-fired power plant groundbreaking rites today

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY — Department of Energy Secretary Vincent Perez is reportedly leading other dignitaries from the Department of Energy (DOE) and National Power Corp. in the groundbreaking ceremony of the controversial $300-million coal-fired power plant project in Villanueva, Misamis Oriental.

The groundbreaking is set at 3 p.m today at the 55-hectare land inside the Phividec Industrial Estate (PIA) in Villanueva.

The groundbreaking and subsequent construction of the 210-megawatt coal-fired power plant will push through despite the vehement opposition lodged against it by environment groups such as the Task Force Macajalar (TFM), Greenpeace, Green Philippines, Friends of the Earth-Japan and the Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro because of the poisonous gases it will spew into the air, the project proponent State Power Development Corp. (SPDC) said.

SPDC is a subsidiary of the State Investment and Trust Inc.

The power plant’s technology will be provided by the German firm Steag AG, an independent power producer in Germany.

In an email, TFM Spokesperson BenCyrus Ellorin accused the government of turning a blind eye to the "valid issues" opponents raised against the coal-fired plant.

"While they are bragging about the use of the Flue Gas Desulfurization device, such device is only capable of removing the acid-rain causing gases like Sulfur Oxide, but not the trace and toxic pollutants resulting from coal burning and carbon emission," he said.

Red Constantino, climate and energy campaigner of Greenpeace-Southeast Asia, stressed that "there is no such thing as clean coal" and that using coal as an alternative power source "would put the health of people near the plant at risk."

Constantino said that a coal-fired power plant poses "a clear and present danger" to humans living as far as 700 kms. from the plant because of its emission of pollutants such as mercury, a substance so toxic that just 1/70th of a teaspoon is enough to pollute a 10-hectare lake to the point that its fish is no longer fit for human consumption.

Greenpeace and other environmentalists have been urging governments for the immediate phase out of coal as fuel source for Earth’s survival.