A recently conducted assessment showed heavy siltation and poor coral cover in the areas surrounding the dolomite mining station of Philippine Mining Services Corporation (PMSC), a contractor for the Manila Bay Beautification Project.

The Environmental Management Bureau Central Visayas sampled seawater taken from the surface, middle, and bottom water sections of 4 stations surrounding the dolomite mining plant in Alcoy town in Cebu Province on October 14. Results show heavy siltation from the excess of total suspended solids (TSS) in the samples taken.

TSS are non-dissolved particles suspended in water.

Samples from Barangay Poblacion or Station 1 showed that the TSS in milligrams per liter (mg/L) far exceeded the 25 mg/L guideline value, recording a TTS count of 191 mg/L, 176 mg/L, and 192 mg/L respectively.

Samples taken from PMSC South Side or Station 2 also showed an excess in TSS – 191 mg/L,176 mg/L and 192 mg/L out of the 80 mg/L guideline value.

PMSC North Side or Station 3 also exceeded the guideline value of 80 mg/L, recording 186 mg/L, 167 mg/L and 170 mg/L.

Balud-Consolacion in Dalaguete town or Station 4 also showed an excess of TSS, recording 164 mg/L, 185 mg/L and 192 mg/L out of the 25 mg/L guideline value.

Meanwhile, an assessment of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources Central Visayas on the coral, fish, and seagrass within the areas surrounding PMSC conducted on October 13 to 16 showed that coral reefs surrounding the plant mostly appear in patches. This is apart from areas at the MPA at Poblacion, Alcoy, and in the deeper areas in the MPA at Balud-Consolacion in the town of Dalaguete.

“Results of 2017 and currently undertaken assessment near PMSC were categorized both under poor condition of coral cover, but a slight increase was observed from recorded 14.6% in 2017 to the current 18.17% or 3.57% coral cover improvement,” the report said.

With the new findings, Sugbo News, the official news site of the Capitol Public Information Office, reported that Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia is preparing a letter on the consolidated report to be addressed to DENR Secretary Roy Cimatu.

A copy of the consolidated report will also be furnished to the Cebu Provincial Board for “necessary action.”

At the height of public outcry on the questionable prioritization of the Manila Bay rehabilitation project amid the coronavirus pandemic, the Cebu provincial government had just discovered that the artificial white sand dumped along the bay had been sourced from one of its towns.

Garcia immediately issued a cease and desist order on “extracting, processing, selling, and transporting dolomite, associated mineral deposits and other quarry resources” for local supply to contractors PMSC and Dolomite Mining Corporation (DMC) to prevent further environmental degradation from the loosely regulated mining operations.

In a previous interview, she also stated that there were obvious violations on the contractors’ ECC (environmental compliance certificate) and the water discharge permit.

The DENR earlier suspended the operations of PMSC. – Rappler.com