Pollution case vs US firm referred to EMB Manila

The Pollution Adjudication Board (PAB) has referred the pollution complaint against US seaweed processor FMC Marine Colloids to the Manila head office of the Environment Management Bureau (EMB).

Sources said the PAB was supposed to issue last month its ruling on the pollution charges filed by the barangay government of Looc, Mandaue City and the Seaweed Industry Association of the Philippines (SIAP). However, the PAB put at bay its decision, and instead, requested the EMB in Manila to send a team to inspect the waters off Mactan Channel in Cebu where FMC allegedly has been illegally discharging toxic wastes.

Residents of Looc are asking the PAB to issue a cease-and-desist order against FMC which managed to bypass the barangay unit and secure a permit to continue operations from the city government. The Looc barangay council refused to issue a permit to FMC last year after its own investigation showed that samples taken from FMC’s wastewater discharge pipes did not conform to standards set by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).

An official of the PAB said the agency decided to ask for an EMB team from Manila to ensure than the evaluation will be impartial.

"The team was dispatched last month to take samples from the Mactan Channel and submit its recommendation to the PAB. We decided against tapping the local EMB unit in Cebu because Looc government officials complained that the EMB which was first tasked to look into the case, has been sitting on the case for months until it was referred to the PAB," the source said.

If the PAB decides against FMC, the seaweed processor will be paying huge fines dating back to the time the complaints were filed.

Sources said FMC is fighting tooth-and-nail to dispute the charges because it will lose a significant chunk of its market.

"It’s not so much that they have to pay the fines but the bigger stake is that their buyers will stay away from them if the charges prosper and FMC is fined and made to clean up the Mactan channel," the same sources said.

One of FMC’s biggest markets is the transnational Colgate-Palmolive.