DENR closes Bulacan dump

MALOLOS, Philippines — A dump in this city was closed on Tuesday.

Paquito Moreno, executive director of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) office in Central Luzon, ordered the closure of the dump based on the recommendation of Environment Management Bureau (EMB) regional office director Wilson Trajeco.

The EMB reported that a monitoring team discovered a bulk of mixed waste adjacent to a material recovery facility in Barangay Mambog on Jan. 13. The city government claimed it was its transfer station.

A dump truck owned by the city government was also caught dumping waste in the facility.

The EMB team said freshly dumped sacks of waste emitting obnoxious odor was observed.

Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu ordered the closure of all dumps in the country by the end of March.

DENR records show that 195 open dumps are still operating in the country, most of them in Western Visayas, Mimaropa, Central Visayas, Bicol and Davao.

Under Section 37 of the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act, the establishment and maintenance of open dumps are prohibited due to the serious threat posed to the environment and public health.

The DENR said charges would be filed against erring LGUs.