Rockwell denies PCIJ accusations

The Rockwell Power Plant denied yesterday that it was responsible for a "deadly pond of toxic waste" in a barangay in Pasig City.

In a letter to The STAR, director/country manager R. Jay Nelson said that the investigative report by the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) made quite a "leap in assumption" when it claimed the construction of the Lopez-owned business and residential district displaced residue threatening to the environment.

"In actuality, there was no pond of toxic waste and referring to it as deadly is quite a leap in assumption. The waste referred to was soil that had been contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyl otherwise known as PCB," the letter clarified. (Click here to read the letter in full)

Nelson further said that there was no pond of material "but rather small hotspots of soil that had been spilled during past operation and maintenance operations."

Nelson, who worked with the Rockwell project for six years, said there is no data indicating that prolonged exposure to PCBs increases the risk of cancer. He also said PCBs do biodegrade but at a slow rate.

He said a Meralco-owned lot in barangay San Joaquin in Pasig was selected to ensure the safe transport and storage of contaminated materials while a further study of alternative disposal concepts was being done.

"Several alternative locations owned by Meralco were explored and studied. All had different site constraints but the one common deterrent was the transportation of the materials over long routes through highly populated areas," he said.

The letter also lamented that University of the Philippines toxicologist Dr. Romeo Quijano was not part of the project, because Rockwell would certainly have appreciated inputs from him on ways to prevent leaching of PCBs.

It said a monitoring program has already been recommended for San Joaquin, and that Dr. Quijano has been invited to be part of it.

"The project team has included numerous experts and experienced scientists in engineering, environmental safety and health over the last six years," the letter said, adding both Rockwell and Meralco continue to welcome constructive suggestions.