By Mar T. Supnad

THE Environment and Management Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources uncovered a sizeable amount of biomedical and hazardous wastes in a closed landfill in Hermosa, Bataan.

In an interview with Hermosa town’s Municipal Environment National Resources Officer Jake De Luna, the poisonous wastes were discovered by a joint team from their local government unit, the DENR-EMB headed by Engr. Carlo Vic Arida at Atty. John Edward, amid reports of local folks who claimed foul odor and bubbling fluid flowing into the Mambog Creek amid heavy downpour.

Tracking down its source, the authorities ended up at the Hermosa Sanitary Landfill Facility in Barangay Mambog that was ordered closed by the local government way back in February this year for violating provisions under Republic Act 9003, otherwise known as Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000.

Operation of the HSLF was commissioned to a private entity referred to as the Econest Waste Management Corporation, reportedly owned by lawyer named Coeli Fiel.

De Luna categorically described the stored bio-medical and hazardous wastes found inside the closed facility as both poisonous and harmful to the environment, specifically the local river and creeks which flow towards the Manila Bay.

Prior to the discovery, Hermosa Mayor Jopet Inton sought help from Malacañang over Econest Waste Management Corporation’s wanton disregard of RA 9003. A formal complaint was also forwarded by Inton to the President amid what he described as failure of the EMB regional office to act on their complaint despite a warning issued by President Rodrigo Duterte who vowed to shut down companies found to be discharging hazardous effluents in waterways.

Amid the EMB’s discovery on stored hazardous bio-medical wastes, Inton urged Environment Secretary to act on what they saw with prudence and prompt resolution, citing the risk it poses to local folks.

This developed as Econest’s Atty. Fiel said they have nothing to do with those hazardous bio-medical wastes and pointed at Udenna as the one which dumped it at the closed facility.

She said Udenna has been dumping bio-medical waste at the landfill as early as October last year – “Why pin us down? Run after Udenna. They dumped those at the facility after we closed down.”

186300cookie-checkDENR uncovers biomedical, hazardous waste in Bataanyes