CA urged to stop construction of coal plant in Subic

Anti-coal activists from Subic, along with the Philippine Movement for Climate Justice and three members of the Aeta tribes from Mampweng, Iram and Trala-la, troop to the Court of Appeals on Tuesday, January 23, 2018, to file a case against the construction and operation of Redondo Peninsula Energy Inc. coal plant (RPEI) in Subic. The petitioners claim that RPEI coal plant will hamper the growth of Subic and nearby areas. Danny Pata

Some Olongapo City residents on Tuesday asked the Court of Appeals to stop the construction of a coal power plant owned by Redondo Peninsula Energy Inc. (RPEI) in Subic, Zambales due to its proximity to the airport, raising safety and environmental concerns.

The petitioners, led by the Subic Bay Freeport Chamber for Health and the Environment, said the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) committed grave abuse of discretion when it gave a height clearance permit (HCP) to RPEI for the construction of the 600-megawatt power plant with a smokestack of 150 meters above sea level.

The structure is located in Sitio Nalatore, Barangay Cawag in Subic, within the approach/departure surface of Runway 07 of the Subic Bay International Airport.

"Aside from the threats of environmental degradation and dangers to our health, we are now also bothered with the safety issue after discovering that the smokestack [of the coal plant] is directly along the path of approach of planes landing to the airport strip which is less than three kilometers from the coal power plant," said Alex Hermoso of the No To Coal Stakeholders Coalition of Subic Bay.

"It will be manslaughter if plane crashes given the proximity of the airport and the safety issues about the effect of the emissions generated by the coal power plant to aircraft," he added.

According to the petitioners, RPEI is allowed to construct a 144-meter high smokestack within a 150-meter above mean sea level (AMSL) top elevation.

However, a graphic illustration and specifications of the smoke stack indicates that the structure alone has a height of 150 meters, which will rise from a ground elevation of 10.68 AMSL.

"It may well be pointed out that this is compounded by the fact that the 150m dual smoke stack will have plume emissions which even factored would create an aviation impediment of not just 160.68 m at a minimum but a projected 175m AMSL what with the emissions and its location considered," the petition read.

“Due to the magnetic interference it generates, the 150m dual smokestack will impair not only the aircraft instruments but the accuracy of the Instrument Landing System (ILS) and the Air Traffic Control (ATC) primary radar,” it added.

Under Chapter 7 of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines Manual of Standards for Aerodomes, any object that extends to a height of 150m or more must be regarded as an obstacle "unless it is assessed by CAAP to be otherwise."

"As the issuance of the subject HCP by respondent CAAP was premised on the representation of respondent RPEI that its structures would not breach the 150m AMSL limitation, the subject HCP loses its efficacy and should be annuled and cancelled for being inherently violative of aviation safety standards," the petition stated.

The petition also said the operation of the dual smokestack would lead to a "constant cooling seawater resulting in dead floating fish, a bird attractant area."

"The bird attractant area, which is only 3.9 nautical miles from the threshold of SBIA Runway 07, as caused by the continual ingestion of seawater for cooling purposes and subsequent dead fish floating to the surface creates a high risk of engine ingestion of birds by aircraft at a low level on an ILS approach," it said.

Apart from directing RPEI to stop any construction activities, the petitioners also called on the CA to order the firm to reimburse the petitioners the cost of the suit. — BM, GMA News