EMB, NGOs to check Semirara coal facility
The Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, and non-governmental groups are slated to check an alleged coal pollution in Semirara Island, Caluya town, Antique later this week.
Engr. Bienvenido Lipayon, regional director of the EMB, told The News Today that technical personnel from their office will be conducting a field investigation at the coal washing facility of the Semirara Mining Corporation on April 16-17.
Lipayon had earlier said that the EMB team will be inspecting all aspects of operation of the facility.
He said that the EMB inspection team might also inspect the coastal and mangrove areas in Sitio Bigo, Brgy. Alegria alleged by the residents to have been damaged by coal wastes.
But Lipayon stressed that theirs is a separate investigation from that of the non-governmental organizations.
In an e-mail, Melvin Purzuelo of the environmental group, Responsible Ilonggos for Sustainable Energy said that they will also be conducting a field investigation.
“Our team will be composed of lawyers, UP-V (University of the Philippines in the Visayas) scientists, and NGO staff,” he said in the e-mail.
They will conduct their field investigation also on April 16-17.
Last year, residents of Brgy. Alegria wrote Environment Sec. Lito Atienza, complaining that coal washouts have damaged their coastal and mangrove areas. They alleged that coal from the nearby coal washing facility caused the siltation of their coastal areas.
The SMC denied all these in their letter to Lipayon.
Earlier, DENR has recommended the issuance of a cease and desist order (CDO) on the coal washing plant of the Semirara Mining Corp. for allegedly polluting Semirara Island's waters and mangroves.
In a memorandum issued by its EMB to the Pollution and Adjudication Board endorsing the complaint of residents against the alleged pollution, the DENR said there was “prima facie evidence” against the company on the “disposal of coal material and tailings into the Suja Creek and to the sea.”
The memorandum dated February 15 and issued by Lipayon also recommended that the company be required to institute interim and long-term measures to prevent a recurrence of the problem.
Residents of Sitio Bigo in Barangay Alegria, one of three villages of the island, had earlier filed a complaint alleging that coastal resources including mangroves have died or have been contaminated by wastes coming from the coal washing plant of SMC.