Environmentalists fear factories may be polluting Marikina River

Environmental activists of Greenpeace Water Patrol said toxic chemicals from factories may be polluting Marikina River because of the lack of government policies on hazardous waste disposal. In a statement issued on Wednesday, Greenpeace called on the government to implement a “mandatory disclosure system" obliging industries to reveal the hazardous wastes they discharge into the river. Greenpeace activists set bamboo rafts afloat, bearing signs that said, “Ang nasa tubo mo, lason sa tubig ko? (Your pipe, my poison?) We have the right to know!" “There are hundreds of discharge pipes along the Marikina River and hundreds of toxic chemicals likely pass through these pipes daily. But no one knows exactly what these are," said Beau Baconguis, toxics campaigner of Greenpeace Southeast Asia. “We have the right to know what chemicals are being poured into the water we use for drinking, fishing or bathing," Baconguis added. Greenpeace activists boarded rubber boats, wearing protective suits, and inspected four discharge pipes which they said “may be dumping toxic chemicals into the river." Three of the pipes belonged to Chemrez Technologies, Inc., a Quezon City-based company that manufactures, processes, and refines chemical products or compounds such as resins and biodiesels. The fourth pipe belonged to international company Coats Manila Bay, Inc., based in Marikina City, which manufactures cotton and polyester threads and textiles. Any toxic chemicals released into the Marikina river by factories and other industrial facilities will eventually end up in Laguna Lake, also a domestic water and food source for Metro Manila and Southern Tagalog provinces, Baconguis noted. In its statement, Greenpeace recommended “pollution disclosure systems" which would allow various sectors to participate in environmental monitoring. Greenpeace also encouraged manufacturers to be more innovative in their product designs so that the use of toxic chemicals are eliminated in their production process. Pollution disclosure is being practiced in other countries such as the United States, members of the European Union, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, and Chile, according to Greenpeace, a global organization with chapters in over 40 countries. In the US, the Pollutant Release and Transfer Register, a disclosure system, has led to “dramatic reductions" in their pollution load into the environment, the organization added. Greenpeace recommended some measures the government could implement to prevent water pollution: