DENR says 5 Bulacan rivers ‘dead’

SAN FERNANDO CITY — The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) here said five of the 40 rivers "surveyed" by its experts in Central Luzon are "biologically dead."

The DENR identified them as the Marilao, Meycauayan, Balagtas, Bocaue and Guiguinto rivers, all in Bulacan.

"Because of pollution, no aquatic life could be found in these rivers and none is likely to survive," said Lormelyn Claudio, regional director of the DENR’s Environmental Management Bureau (EMB).

Most of the pollutants are tanneries and jewelry manufacturers.

This developed as Claudio lamented her office’s failure to shut down a fruit juice manufacturing firm in Marilao, Bulacan which has been found to be a source of heavy pollution of Marilao and the Meycauayan rivers.

She said that some 200 workers of the Zesto Corp. armed themselves with grass cutters and wooden clubs to prevent a closure order against their firm.

DENR personnel had planned to padlock the plant’s boiler tank and shut down its main power lines, but failed.

She said that for years now, the Zesto plant has been discharging untreated waste water into the municipal sewage canal of Marilao which empties into the Marilao and Meycauayan rivers. The firm has already been assessed a penalty of P5 million for its failure to comply with government pollution standards.

Exuporio Lipayon, chief engineer of the environment quality division of the EMB, said that Zesto’s effluents failed to meet DENR standards on acidity, biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), chemical oxidation demand (COD) and color units. — Ding Cervantes