The group, calling itself the Bantay Kasawgan Hong Butuan, said the river’s coliform content has reached more than 6,000 mpn per 100 milliliters of water, beyond the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) standard of only 500 mpn.
Coliform refers to rod-shaped bacteria normally found in the colons of humans and animals which become a serious contaminant when found in food or the water supply.
The Bantay Kasawgan said the river’s high coliform level gravely endangers city folk who consume fish caught in the waterway or use its water for cooking and other household chores.
During a forum at the Fr. Urios University gymnasium here, Fr. Joesillo Amalia, the group’s spokesman and convenor, challenged other environmental groups and non-government organizations to help them find ways to protect the historical Masao River.
"We must act now before it is too late. We must save the historical Masao River as well as the lives and health of thousands of dwellers near the Agusan and Masao rivers," he said.
It was in the Masao River where nearly a dozen vessels called the balanghai, which dated back to the 11th and 12th centuries, were discovered. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is reportedly poised to declare the river a World Heritage and Cultural Site.
Amalia, curator of the Butuan diocesan museum, said fecal wastes of residents living along the riverbanks have contributed to the river’s worsening pollution.
The riverbank settlers were supposed to have been relocated when a foreign-funded, multimillion-peso flood control project was started years ago.
Amalia also bewailed the river’s high mercury content from mining activities upstream and the mushrooming of fishcages and fishtraps.
During flash floods, he said floodwaters reach tombs in the overcrowded public cemetery in Barangay Masao, thus worsening the river’s coliform level.
Amalia’s group presented a 12-page position paper to Reynaldo Villafuerte, regional director of the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB), during the forum, which was attended by four Mindanao bishops and nearly 1,000 people.
The Bantay Kasawgan urged the EMB to reassess all applications for environmental compliance certificates for infrastructure projects, fishcages and fishtraps in the Masao River, including ECCs already issued.