The Department of Environment and Natural Resources-Environmental Management Bureau (DENR-EMB) is encouraging more public vigilance on projects nationwide and assured immediate action on environment-related complaints against these.
It noted that proponents concerned are duty-bound to implement measures for minimizing such undertakings’ respective adverse impacts on people and their surroundings.
”People can report to us and we’ll immediately respond to their concerns,” DENR-EMB Asst. Dir. Gilbert Gonzales said.
He noted that DENR-EMB continues monitoring projects nationwide to help further curb environmental degradation.
But it still welcomes such reports as proponents concerned must comply with conditions under respective environmental compliance certificates (ECCs) which this agency issued to them.
”We issue an ECC only after a project’s proponent shows environmental impacts of a proposed undertaking can be addressed and identifies measures for achieving this,” he said.
Such measures can include installing air pollution control devices, treating water before discharging this into the open and establishing solid waste management systems.
DENR-EMB issues ECCs for heavy industry, resource-extractive and infrastructure undertakings as well as golf course projects since the agency considers these to be environmentally critical.
”Even government is required to secure ECCs for its projects,” Gonzales noted.
Projects in environmentally critical locations like protected areas are also required to have respective ECCs as these undertakings impact on the environment there, he added.
Elsewhere for projects having minimal impact on the environment and people, DENR-EMB issues certificates of non-coverage to proponents concerned.
”Among such projects are establishing and operating neighborhood or ‘sari-sari’ stores,” Gonzales said.
DENR earlier reported improvement in Metro Manila’s air quality, saying pollutive total suspended particulates (TSP) in the area already declined to some 117 micrograms per normal cubic meter (ug/Ncm) in 2011.
Such level is lower than the 171 ug/Ncm TSP level recorded for Metro Manila in 2004, DENR noted.
The agency is aiming to further reduce Metro Manila’s TSP level to at least the 90 ug/Ncm guideline value.
”We aim to achieve such goal perhaps in a year or two,” Gonzales said.
To help further clean up the air, he reported seven additional anti-smoke belching units were deployed to man Metro Manila’s main streets this week.
The units are tasked with apprehending smoke belchers there.
”We’re focusing on mobile sources which are the big pollution contributors, accounting for some 80 percent of air pollutants,” Gonzales said.
The units’ deployment is in line with the anti-air pollution partnership DENR established in December 2011 with the transportation department, Metropolitan Manila Development Authority, Metro Manila’s local government units as well as private groups Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas and Philippine Medical Association.
DENR-EMB already targeted establishing more air quality monitoring stations that generate real-time data to help boost its campaign against dirty air.
”We’ll upgrade little by little because aside from TSP, other pollutants like particulate matter (PM) must be monitored as well,” Gonzales said.
He noted studies showing PM affects people’s health as these pollutants enter the human body.
PM can be as small as 2.5 microns, he warned.
On addressing water pollution, Gonzales reported DENR-EMB’s success in implementing its ‘Adopt-an-Estero’ program.
”As of last year, we already inked with private companies in the country some 260 agreements for the latter to clean up ‘esteros’ and other waterways,” he said.
Under the program, companies choose which ‘esteros,’ waterways or portions of these to clean up using respective resources.
DENR-EMB supports the companies’ efforts by conducting information and education campaigns that educate communities along such ‘esteros’ and waterways about dangers of disposing waste there. [PNA]
