DENR slaps FPIC P24.2M in pollution fines

(Update 4:37 p.m.) The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has initially charged First Philippine Industrial Corp. (FPIC) with P24.2 million in pollution fines after the Pollution Adjudication Board (PAB) found the company liable for the petroleum leak that contaminated the water at the West Tower Condominium and its vicinity in Makati City. “Under Section 27 of Republic Act No. 9275, otherwise known as the Clean Water Act, one of the prohibited acts is discharging, injecting or allowing to seep into the soil or sub-soil any substance in any form that would pollute the groundwater," Environment Secretary Ramon J. P. Paje said Tuesday. The violation carries a maximum fine of P200,000 per day, the DENR said in a statement In a resolution the PAB issued on Nov. 19, FPIC was ordered to show cause within five days from receipt of the order to explain why the Lopez-owned firm should not pay the fine “of P200,000 per day of violation or from the time of the discovery until the leak was finally plugged," Paje said. Meanwhile, FPIC said in a separate statement it has not received a copy of the DENR order yet. "Nonetheless, FPIC has already engaged CH2M Hill to undertake environmental remediation or cleanup of the Bangkal area," the company said. FPIC is also cooperating with the Department of Energy, University of the Philippines –National Institute of Geological Sciences, and Makati local government unit for the rapid risk assessment of the pipeline system. “We have not received a copy of the DENR order yet but FPIC has been undertaking a lot of measures to do what is right for the Bangkal area. A major step is the tapping of the expertise of CH2M Hill in environmental remediation," said Anthony Mabasa, FPIC officer-in-charge. "CH2M Hill is known for doing an accurate analysis and appropriate environmental cleanup measures for their projects worldwide," he added. PAB records showed the leak near Basement 4 of West Tower Condominium (WTC) in Bgy. Bangkal was discovered by the Bureau of Fire Protection on July 12, 2010 while FPIC officially declared the leaked “had already been plugged/sealed on 10 November 2011" or after 121 days. The P24.2-M fine was computed as of Nov. 10, 2010 and may still go up should the succeeding water sampling by the Environment Management Bureau show that the wastewater falls below the compliant level on effluent standards, Paje said. The PAB action stems from a formal complaint filed by EMB National Capital Region director Roberto Sheen on Nov. 15. Citing the order, Paje said based on the board’s deliberation FPIC was responsible for the leak — a violation of Section 27, paragraph (b) of R.A. 9275. The EMB-NCR is part of the inter-agency task force that looked into the matter after the leak was discovered in July. With the local government of Makati, the board conducted a grab sampling of the wastewater from Basement 4 of WTC. The water sampling showed high levels of oil and grease that violated current effluent standards, Paje said. “The Board likewise took note of the Respondent’s (FPIC) failure to submit an Operations Manifesto Report (OMR), which was considered by the Regional Office to be material in its investigation," PAB noted in its resolution of Case No. NCR-00814-10. The PAB order also cited that “as the circumstances of this (leak incident) warrants the immediate clean up and rehabilitation, the Board took note of the penalty imposable herein respondent (FPIC) should it fail to comply with the order to undertake clean up/rehabilitation." Sec. 28 of the RA 9275 states: “Failure to undertake clean-up operations willfully, through gross negligence, shall be punished by imprisonment of not less than two (2) years and not more than four (4) years and a fine of not less than fifty thousand pesos (P50,000) and not more than one hundred thousand pesos (P100,000) per day of violation." — VS, GMANews.TV