Government quizzed on toxic pesticide recovered from sunken ship

MANILA, Philippines - A toxic waste watchdog yesterday asked the government to issue a report on the status of some 10 metric tons of endosulfan, a highly toxic pesticide, retrieved from the M/V Princess of the Stars, which capsized off Sibuyan Island in Romblon on June 21, 2008.

The EcoWaste Coalition expressed alarm over the long-drawn-out process of shipping out the toxic materials that were salvaged from the ill-fated ship from Sept. 27 to Oct. 5, 2008.

“Two years have already passed since the Del Monte-owned pesticide consignments were recovered from the sunken ship through costly retrieval operations and we still see no light at the end of the tunnel,” said Roy Alvarez, president of EcoWaste Coalition.

“We ask the authorities, particularly the lead agencies comprising the Task Force MV Princess of the Stars to explain to the public the real score. What is really holding up the shipment of endosulfan which is highly toxic for humans and wildlife, for environmentally sound destruction abroad?” he added.

For his part, Dr. Romy Quijano, president of PAN-Philippines said, “Time is running out for endosulfan as governments, including the Philippines, take preventive and precautionary steps to ban this pesticide because of its toxicity and threats to human health and the environment.”

Sixty-nine countries have already taken action to ban endosulfan in the build-up to the upcoming meeting of the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants Review Committee.

The toxic materials have been sitting for months in a private warehouse in Meycauayan, Bulacan.

“With the looming global ban under the Stockholm Convention, it makes sense for the Aquino government to conduct an immediate inventory of endosulfan stocks in the country and to ensure that these are stored in safe conditions and not arbitrarily disposed of in unauthorized hazardous waste treatment plants and in cement kilns,” added Manny Calonzo, GAIA co-coordinator.

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources issued a temporary ban in February 2009 on the importation, distribution and use of endosulfan “to protect the public and the environment from any undesirable risk hazards on its continued use.”

Last August, the Pest Management Regulatory Agency of Canada withdrew support for the use of endosulfan, citing the concern for workers’ safety, the risk posed to non-target organisms and persistence of endosulfan in the environment.

Last June, the US Environmental Protection Agency decided to end all uses of endosulfan after assessing that the pesticide “can pose unacceptable neurological and reproductive risks to farm workers and wildlife and can persist in the environment.”