Ethanol plant in Bais City to be closed temporarily

CEBU, Philippines - The ethanol plant in Bais City, Negros Oriental may be closed temporarily next week by the city government and the Environmental Management Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources-7 for its alleged failure to comply with some provisions of the environmental compliance certificate.

This developed after another fish kill was reported early this week in the Bais City- Manjuyod area, believed to have been caused by effluents discharged into the sea from the ethanol plant.

City Legal Officer Lloyd Elmaco told reporters the Bais City Council had approved a resolution recommending to Mayor Mercy Goñi the temporary closure of the ethanol plant until it builds another treatment pond for its waste discharge.

Goñi confirmed having received a copy of the resolution but said she wanted to listen first to the EMB and its findings, based from the latest laboratory tests done on water samples taken from the supposed contaminated waters in Bais City. After that, “we will do what we have to do,” she said.

The mayor said she met with an official of the Universal Robina Corporation (URC) or URSUMCO-Fuel Ethanol Plant Friday and discussed the problem at hand, pointing out that the existing treatment pond is not enough for the plant’s current volume of waste discharge. “Everything will be clearer next week on which direction the Bais City government will go,” said Goñi.

DENR-7 Director Isabelo Montejo acknowledged the EMB may agree with the recommendation of the Bais City government for a temporary shutdown of the ethanol plant to prevent further destruction of the environment.

On Tuesday, residents reported of another fish kill in the area, with pictures plastered on Facebook showing fish, crabs, shrimps and other marine life, including a bird, that died due to the ethanol plant’s discharges of waste.

Montejo, during a water conference at Silliman University, told reporters that technical personnel headed by EMB-7 Director William Collado had met with local counterparts in Negros Oriental on the matter.

He said he has directed EMB-7 to come up with a technical report on the latest claims of foul odor, contaminated water and fish kill that residents claimed to have taken place early this week. “It is high time we collaborate our efforts with the local government”, said Montejo, who however clarified the closure will not be permanent otherwise it will affect the “economic activity in the province.”

The temporary closure would allow the ethanol plant to build another oxidation pond where effluents will be treated before the wastewater is deemed safe for release to the sea without compromising marine life, Montejo said. “We are really determined to have this properly implemented so that the incident of fish kill will be stopped in the area.”

One of the conditions that the ethanol plant has to comply with is having enough treatment facilities for its effluents that would ensure these have met the standard level prior to release to a body of water, Montejo said.

Montejo further disclosed that technical personnel here informed him that the current oxidation pond at the ethanol plant was not enough to accommodate the volume of waste from the plant, in violation to the terms and conditions of the ECC granted to the company.

On the remuneration for those whose livelihood have been affected by the problem, Montejo said the company has to address this, as part of its social responsibility of setting aside an environmental guarantee fund for people negatively affected by the plant’s operations. (FREEMAN)