DENR fines Bataan landfill operator, orders rehabilitation of facility

The  Department of Environment and Natural Resources imposed a P150,000 fine on the private operator of a sanitary landfill facility in Hermosa town here for violation of the conditions of its Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC).

In a 17-page resolution, William Cuñado, OIC-director of the the DENR’s Environmental Management Bureau, also ordered Econest Waste Management Corporation (Econest WMC) to immediately rehabilitate the area and remove hazardous wastes.

The EMB also suspended the ECC it issued to Econest “without prejudice to the conduct of rehabilitation” order by the agency.

Meanwhile, Beula Coeli Fiel, Econest’s president and chief operating officer, said they have yet to receive a copy of the EMB resolution. Fiel said they might file a motion for reconsideration upon receiving their copy of the resolution.

The January 4 EMB order resolved the dispute between the Hermosa local government and Econest which came out in the open last year.

On February 20 last year, Hermosa Mayor Jopet Inton personally served the cease and desist order against Econest. Inton also padlocked the facility’s gate. 

Before its closure, the Hermosa government and the EMB-DENR issued separate notices of violations to Econest after finding out that the operator had no valid discharge permit and hazardous waste generator registration certificate.

Hermosa officials also discovered that some units of its leachate treatment facilities had no protective lining, which could cause groundwater contamination due to leachate seepage. – Rappler.com