Where lahar failed, coal plant might just succeed

HAVE PITY ON US!: They tell us that the many independent power producers (IPPs) feeding the Luzon grid of the National Power Corp. actually have excess capacity and that they have to operate below their rated capability.

With that unused surplus (which we captive consumers pay for anyway), why is the government still allowing the putting up of additional coal-fired plants that are not only unnecessary but also sure to add more lethal waste elements in the air we breathe?

A case in point is a proposed coal-fired plant in our town of Mabalacat, situated at the end of the North Luzon Expressway in Pampanga right in the midst of so much excess power in the Napocor grid.

As that proposed power generator is redundant and pollutive, one wonders what motivated Environment Secretary Heherson Alvarez – who claims to be an environmentalist – to give it his green clearance.

We refuse to believe that Secretary Alvarez has a special loathing for us residents of Mabalacat, especially the lahar-resettled villages like Madapdap near the plant, and desires to succeed where Mt. Pinatubo failed.

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ALVAREZ MISINFORMED: If a firm needs lots of electricity, it can connect directly to the Napocor grid without passing through the local electric cooperatives. Many firms with big power requirements – and with the big difference of a Social Conscience – have done that with satisfactory results.

Of course there is money in putting up a full-blown power plant, but the fat earnings from the attendant transactions are not enough justification for inflicting the curse of cumulative pollution on the surrounding community.

We were told, however, that all is not lost. Somebody whispered to us yesterday that Secretary Alvarez was just grossly misinformed about the project and may have been influenced by the names of some"media moguls" being dropped.

However, if the Secretary is already compromised, then Energy Secretary Vincent Perez can still save the day for the people of Mabalacat, Magalang, Bamban (Tarlac) and nearby towns that would be exposed to the noxious emissions and effluents of the proposed coal plant.

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FORMOSA RECORD: After we pointed out that problem in our hometown, Red Constantino of Greenpeace contributed additional data on the project. He said in an e-mail:

"Another interesting issue here is that the proponent, Formosa Plastics, is no clean green saint by any stretch of the imagination. Formosa is a notorious net exporter of hazardous waste. It was recently defeated previously by US community resisters when Formosa attempted to export mercury waste from their Taiwan plant to ‘a dumpsite near the Latino community of Westmorland in Southern California, then to the US Ecology dumpsite in Nevada, next to a dump in Idaho, to a waste disposal facility near a small town in France, a disposal firm in Germany, and once again to Nevada. In every case, citizen action caused the waste disposal plans or contracts to be rejected, forcing FPG to finally accede to environmentalist demands.’

"The demand that Formosa ‘take responsibility for its own waste at its corporate site in Taiwan rather than export their problems’ was called for by environmentalists around the world following Formosa’s scandalous export of its waste to the impoverished and war-torn country of Cambodia. The illegal Cambodian dumping led to the deaths of seven persons."

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ALVAREZ VS. ATIENZA: SecretaryAlvarez has another fight looming against Manila Mayor Lito Atienza, with whom he once tangled over hizzoner’s conversion of the historic Mehan Gardens near City Hall into an ugly parking building.

This time, the casus belli, is the Arroceros Forest Park at the foot of Quezon bridge that the mayor wants as site for office buildings of the City Schools Division. The nine-year-old forest glade is the only bird watching site in the heart of Manila.

The Winner Foundation, its custodian and preserver, is set to cement in a ceremony this morning a partnership with Luntiang Pilipinas Foundation Inc., a tree-planting group headed by Sen. Loren Legarda. Secretary Alvarez will lead the tree-planting part of the program with a donation of 25 new species.

In an agreement signed in November 1993, care of the 2.1-hectare property was entrusted by then Mayor Alfredo Lim to the foundation, represented by its president, Lourdes Evangelista. Then First Lady Amelita Ramos was and continues to be honorary chair of the foundation.

Some 3,500 trees have been planted there in the last eight years. Some of the original species on the site are over a century old, including balete, kamagong, and India rubber trees.

Members of the Haribon Society have recorded several species of birds, including the Long Tailed Shrike, Brown Shrike, Zebra Dove, Pherfic Swallow, Yellow Vented Bulbul, and Pied Fantale.

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CATCHING SMOKE-BELCHERS: Back to pollution, this time on the road, we turn over the podium to one of our readers (using a cfsharp.com address) grown hoarse pleading for government action. Begging not to be identified, he said:

"The South Luzon Expressway on most entry points has huge signboards with a long litany of what is prohibited within the expressway, among them ‘smoke belching’ vehicles.

"However, smoke-belchers are plying the expressway with impunity. The PNCC should be made to implement its own publicly-stated policy. Diesel-powered vehicles should be randomly checked before the entry gates. No need for testing equipment if that’s the problem, just people who get disgusted at the ugly sight of black stinking smoke.

"Floor the accelerator, and if black smoke belches from the tailpipe, sorry no entry. Those who make it through the tollgate should be apprehended by the PNCC guards.

"Imagine the impact of a vehicle denied entry in Calamba with destination Quezon City. It will hardly be able to make it that day and the owner will probably rather go to the repair shop to have his engine fixed.

"This is only one example that could be adopted in private subdivisions and other controlled areas. In fact, most of the export zones in Laguna and Cavite do not allow smoke belchers to enter.

"And here comes the government mandating cleaner (more expensive) fuel. That’s a good step in the right direction. But why go high-tech first before solving the more basic problem?

"Smoke belching is also a mechanical problem, not a problem of the fuel alone. If the cleaner fuel flows into the hundreds of thousand of defective, over-aged and poorly maintained diesel engines, how much cleaner air can we expect?

"The smoke belchers must be forced off the road and into the repair shops."

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