SUMMARY
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The city government of San Carlos in this province has temporarily shut down a bioethanol plant due to several environmental violations.
On February 18, San Carlos City Mayor Renato Gustilo sent a letter to the management of San Carlos Bioenergy Incorporated (SCBI) about the water discoloration along the coastal waters of Sitio Maloloy-on in Barangay Punao due to the firm’s wastewater discharge.
He also cited in the letter that although specific mitigating measures were undertaken by the SCBI, such initiatives were not enough to cushion the negative impact of water pollution in the area.
The mayor also advised SCBI to temporarily cease its operations until it settled the recurring issues or the city government would recommend to the Environment Management Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (EMB-DENR) the issuance for its cease and desist order.
The plant temporarily shut down on February 19.
On February 23, Gustilo rejected the request of the SCBI to resume its operations.
Gustilo said he would not grant their request unless the plant drained its ponds of spent wash which the mayor saw when he inspected the wastewater early this week. He also saw their holding ponds full of liquid waste which already spilled along the coastal area of the city.
Arthur Batomalaque, Senior Environment Management Specialist of the City Environment Management Office, said that the bioethanol plant has a 16-hectare pond that holds its 700 to 1,000 cubic meter of daily effluent.
The SCBI which started operation in 2008 is the first regenerative combined cycle power plant in Asia using sugar cane that produces 42 million liters of bioethanol per annum and 8 megawatts of electricity from sugar cane. – Rappler.com
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