DENR issues another closure order vs Pangasinan sanitary landfill
A SANITARY landfill facility in Urdaneta City has been issued another closure order after it allegedly defied a cease and desist order (CDO) issued by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) last March.
DENR Secretary Roy Cimatu ordered the issuance of another CDO to the Urdaneta City engineered sanitary landfill located in Brgy. Catablan after the DENR-Environmental Law Enforcement and Protection Service (ELEPS) Intelligence Operations found that it is still being used for waste disposal months after the first CDO was issued on March 5, 2021.
The CDO was issued against the facility for violation of Republic Act (RA) 9275 or the Philippine Clean Water Act of 2004, and RA 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000.
“We are on our way towards changing the psyche of the Filipino people when it comes to solid waste management. The success of the enforcement operations is a crucial part of this gargantuan endeavor,” Cimatu said.
During a follow-up inspection conducted by the DENR’s Environmental Management Bureau-Region 1 (EMB-Region 1) on Aug. 19, it discovered that padlocks and barricades have been tampered with and fresh tire tracks were left at the sanitary landfill facility cell and open dumpsite, indicating the arrival and departure of dump trucks and other waste disposal equipment.
The EMB-Region 1 also noted the presence of newly dumped waste at the time of monitoring, as well as the unauthorized opening of the previously decommissioned pipe connecting the storm drainage pond and canal leading to the Sinocalan River.
On Oct. 7, DENR-Region 1 Executive Director Crizaldy Barcelo and EMB-Region 1 Director Maria Dorica Naz-Hipe, together with DENR local officials and ELEPS personnel, led the re-issuance of CDO to the city government of Urdaneta City to stop the operation of the sanitary landfill facility.
The DENR-Region 1 said the illegal operations of the landfill is a blatant disregard of the Pollution Adjudication Board’s order pursuant to DENR-PAB Case No. 01-1024A-20.
The team had already cemented the pipe connecting the storm drainage pond and canal leading to the Sinocalan River, which is located at the back of the facility.
