Talisay eyeing new place for dumpsite

Talisay City has identified barangay Tapul as the alternative site for the establishment of its sanitary landfill after the Bureau of Mines and Geo-sciences of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources noted unfavorable conditions surrounding the six-hectare landfill in barangay Biasong.

Mayor Socrates Fernandez has already informed the DENR that the city will establish a sanitary landfill in Tapul before the yearend.

The city is speeding up the establishment of the sanitary landfill, as the Republic Act 9003, or the Solid Waste Management Act, mandates each local government units to have sanitary landfill by 2007.

Fernandez said the dumpsite in Biasong is not allowable according to the law due to improper waste disposal, adding that two DENR personnel chose the nine-hectare lot in Tapul as ideal area for a sanitary landfill.

If the sanitary landfill project in Tapul pushes through, Fernandez assured the safety of the barangay residents because the dumpsite will be properly maintained.

Fernandez said the wastewater from the Tapul landfill would not affect the Pinggan River because of the distance and the type of soil in the area.

BMG senior geologists Josephine Aleta and Al Emir Berador, in their feasibility study conducted last February, said the city should provide sound collection system and wastewater treatment facility so the landfill's effluents will not pollute the Pinggan River. Aleta and Berador said the sanitary landfill must have a free-draining capability during its construction and operations to prevent groundwater contamination.

Presently, the city is generating at least 60,000 kilograms of waste a day. - Garry B. Lao