A police personnel inspects a truck loaded with hazardous chemical wastes at a checkpoint in Hermosa, Bataan.
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR)-Bataan is alarmed over incidents of chemical wastes being disposed at a dumpsite in Hermosa, Bataan.
This came after the Philippine National Police seized a ten-wheeler truck loaded with nine plastic containers of chemical waste at a local checkpoint.
It was discovered that the cargo truck had no permit to transport.
The Provincial Government of Environment and Natural Resources Office (PG-ENRO) said, the chemicals pose environmental and health risks to residents especially if they are not treated properly by a waste treatment facility.
“Halimbawa, siya ay maitapon sa isang creek at hazardous waste siya, depende sa nature ng materyales, ang posibleng mangyari, magkakaroon ng fishkill kung highly toxic yung materyales,” PG-ENRO – Bataan head, Engr. Victor Ubaldo said.
(For instance, if the hazardous waste is thrown into a creek, depending on the nature its composition, it can possibly cause fish kill if the waste is made of highly toxic materials.)
The agency said such chemical wastes must be treated first before they are disposed at dump sites to neutralize their toxicity level. However, the provincial government has no such facility.
“Wala dito sa Bataan na accredited treatment facilities ng hazardous waste. Ang meron ay sa Metro Clark Sanitary Landfill,” said Engr. Ubaldo.
( Bataan has no accredited treatment facilities of hazardous waste. What it has is Metro Clark Sanitary Landfill.)
The police currently are in custody of the four men who were operating the trucks full of chemical waste.
RELATED: Local officials to face charges due to operation of illegal dumpsites
Authorities are also in the process of verifying if the chemicals are some form of hydrochloric acid.
If proven to be toxic substances, the suspects will be charged under Republic Act 6969 or the “Toxic Substances and Hazardous and Nuclear Wastes Control Act of 1990.” — Joshua Antonio | UNTV News & Rescue
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