Landfill caught disposing leachate into Rizal river

(UPDATE) MANILA, Philippines — Environment Secretary Lito Atienza on Thursday sent two teams to look into the reported disposal of toxic liquid substances from a sanitary landfill in Rodriguez, Rizal to the Montalban River. Atienza said he sent to the area one team headed by regional executive director Nilo Tamoria and another one from the main office of the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) to verify reports and conduct the investigation on the reported disposal of a liquid by-product called leachate into the Montalban River. Atienza said the sanitary landfill should have a wastewater treatment facility to prevent the dumping of leachate from the sanitary landfill to a body of water or water channel. The absence of the wastewater treatment facility in a sanitary landfill is a violation of Philippines laws, he said. “It is supposed to be a sanitary landfill so supposed to be it has a wastewater treatment facility. Kung wala nito (If there’s none), then there is a serious violation of the law. We would not hesitate to go after the operator of that sanitary landfill (if that is the case)," Atienza said. He also said that his office would not think twice about closing down the sanitary landfill if it’s indeed found to have no wastewater treatment facility. “If it (Rodriguez sanitary landfill) has no wastewater treatment facility, then it is not a sanitary landfill, it is an open dump site, which is prohibited under the law," Atienza pointed out. The laws that could have been possibly violated in this case are the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act and Clean Water Act. A GMA News report earlier said Rizal Governor Casimiro “Jun" Ynares III has promised to work closely with the DENR to address the illegal activity. Ynares said he learned about the illegal activity only from a television report showing an actual footage of the landfill taken by concerned citizens and local authorities. The GMA News report aired over QTV’s Balitanghali said that after several days of surveillance, local authorities finally caught the activity on camera and discovered that the activity could be considered “organized," especially since landfill personnel for a time now have been taking part in it. The report said that landfill personnel would first “spot" the area before laying a pipe that would channel the extracted toxic substance from the pile of waste down to the river. On Wednesday night, local authorities and operatives from the Special Weapons and Tactics swooped down on the area and took a number of personnel in their custody. “Nakita natin iyong napaka-baho at napakaruming katas at pinapatuloy nila iyon sa ilog. Puwedeng dumeretso iyan sa San Mateo at kahit sa Marikina (We have seen the stinking and extremely dirty leachate being redirected to the river. It could even reach San Mateo and Marikina)," a local official told GMA News. Authorities have raised concern that the contamination could lead to poisoning not only of the river but also of the animals and people living near the affected body of water. The report quoted officials as saying that the International Solid Waste Integrated Management Service Inc (SWIMS) - contractor of the sanitary landfill - and other local government officials could face charges for the contamination. DENR, Ynares also at fault? Meanwhile, the militant environmental group Kalikasan-People’s Network for the Environment (Kalikasan-PNE) said Atienza, Gov. Ynares, and International SWIMS should all be held accountable for the illegal activity. “We condemn the International Solid Waste Integrated Management Services Inc. and the Rizal provincial government for dumping toxic leachate into Montalban River (because) this not only pollutes the river but also endangers the health and welfare of people including the residents of Metro Manila," said Clemente Bautista Jr., national coordinator of Kalikasan-PNE. “The DENR, in addition, is not exactly blameless in this state of affairs. First, DENR allowed the operation of a landfill within an environmentally critical watershed area. Secondly, Atienza approved the expansion of the landfill area from 14 to 19 hectares, and then extended its lifespan for more than a year. And lastly, DENR authorized the SWIMS and provincial government to operate the landfill even with the absence of wastewater facility. These show how incompetent and irresponsible Atienza is," he also said. The Rizal provincial government operates the 19-hectare Rizal Provincial Sanitary Landfill (formerly called Montalban landfill) in the municipality of Rodriguez, Rizal. Last year, Ynares “wrestled" over control of the landfill from the municipal government of Rodriguez led by Mayor Pedro Cuerpo. Later, the provincial government contracted the privately owned International SWIMS to manage the landfill. On Wednesday, the landfill's personnel were caught on video dumping leachate directly into the Montalban River. Reportedly, the sanitary landfill was discovered to have been operating without the required wastewater treatment facility. “The closure of Montalban landfill is overdue, as it has reached the end of its lifespan a year ago. Yet, the national government, DENR and Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) had failed to provide a long-term solution to the garbage problem of Metro Manila and the country," Bautista lamented. “Billions of pesos of budget go to garbage management, but most of this ends in the pockets of corrupt government officials. Amid this, garbage management, as a public service, continues to deteriorates," he said. Of the 8,000 metric tons (MT) of trash produced by Metro Manila residents everyday, 3,000-4,000 MT are brought to the Rodriguez landfill. The rest is brought to other landfills in Navotas City and Pier 18 in Manila, and to the provinces of Bulacan and Laguna. - - Mark Merueñas, GMANews.TV