CLARK FREEPORT – “It’s like a gun pointed to our head!”
This was how Clark Development Corp. president–CEO Manuel Gaerlan described the cease-and-desist order (CDO) the Pollution Adjudication Board (PAB) of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources poised against the Clark Water Corp. (CWC) here during a virtual meeting via Zoom with representatives of the government bodies on Tuesday.
The CDO is set to be implemented, after the grace period ends on June 18, by the PAB if CWC will fail to comply with its waste water treatment plant and its effluents set to the standard as defined by DENR Administrative Order 2016-08 otherwise known as the Water Quality Guidelines and General Effluents Standard of 2016.
But in order to comply with DAO 2016-08, the CWC would need to construct a P1-billion waste treatment plant which according to the Clark Investors and Locators Association (CILA) will definitely be borneby their member-companies and other Clark stakeholders.
Frankie Villanueva, former CILA president and now chair of its advocacy committee, described DAO 2016-08 as “probably the highest in the world.”
“We have been requesting for five years now the technical study which is the basis of DAO 2016-08 which is the highest in the world but none have been given to us so far,” he said.
In the Zoom meeting, Villanueva’s query was sidetracked by the officials who said they will give him a copy.
Villanueva also questioned the 40 percent surcharge fee for septic waste treatment imposed by the CWC as compared to only P500 imposed by Subic Water.
Christian Mhel Marcos, CWC general manager, said the fee is for the grease and oil trap.
CILA chair Dr. Irineo Alvaro Jr. pointed out that at this time of the pandemic, an additional burden will be detrimental to Cark locators and other stakeholders.
Alvaro also noted that DAR 2016-08 was signed during the 11th hour of the past administration which may be higher than the standards set by the World Health Organization, lending credence to the fact that it was done in haste.
He said it was better to look for a cheaper technology. “Let us be more giving and give a little consideration at this time,” he said.
For her part, CILA president Jeanie Del Rosario-Ng said a cheaper technology is available for a sewage treatment facility which can be constructed with P400 million which is 60 percent lower than the P1–billion plant.
She said even a P200–million facility with similar technology will be much more acceptable.
She also noted that if the PAB is still using as basis DAO 1990-35, then CWC is still compliant with its effluent standards.
Meanwhile in a statement, the CDC agreed to give CWC the notice to proceed with its compliance action plan for DAO 2016-08 after the CWC agreed to the condition to cap the tariff increase at P4.35 per cubic meter over a four-year period.
