Capitol belittles warning vs. Naga coal plant ash

CEBU, Philippines – Capitol consultant on information Rory Jon Sepulveda said Greenpeace, an international environment group, is barking at the wrong tree when they warned the Cebu Provincial Government that the coal plant ash would pose a risk.

This he said after learning that lawyers of the environmental group warned the provincial government and power firm against operating a coal plant and disposing its waste in a government-owned property in Naga.

According to Sepulveda, lawyers Benjamin Cabrido and Dante Ramos, who said that the deal is an “extremely hazardous project as coal ash has radioactive elements and hazardous substances”, failed to validate their claims as far as coal-generated power plants in Cebu are concerned.

“I challenge them. I have the information that they are shopping around. Dugay na kaayo ang coal sa Pilipinas,” Sepulveda told reporters yesterday.

The province is expected to earn at least $1 million for allowing Korean Electric Power Corp. to dump coal ash in Naga.

The Provincial Board has already authorized Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia to enter into a memorandum of agreement with Kepco officials today for the use of the provincial government-owned Balili Beach Resort in Naga as the dumping area for the accumulated coal ashes once the 200-megawatt Kepco power plant becomes operational in Feb. 2011.

The province will collect a fee of $1 dollar per ton of ash from Kepco. At the same time, the provincial government can also use the ashes to fill the swampy portion of the 25-hectare beach resort.

According to Sepulveda, that not all fly ash is environmentally hazardous.

“It depends upon the composition of the coal…coal ash produced by various power plants in Cebu are environmentally safe,” he said.

Moreover, Sepulveda said that that type of fly ash can also be used as filling material and embankments.

He also noted that all power plants in Cebu had secured government permits and clearances including environmental clearances from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

“Before we dump something on our property, we also ensure that the things we are dumping are environmentally safe,” Sepulveda said.

In addition, he said that these lawyers are just using substance-less issue to enjoy media mileage. 

“They could have checked the net first before issuing false claims,” he said.

Garcia saw the deal as favorable for the province since it will help fill the swampy area in the property instead of spending the province’s own money for the same purpose. Moreover, Kepco will pay the province $1 million for the deal. — Garry B. Lao/BRP (THE FREEMAN)