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CLEANING UP. Workers clean up parts of the Binalbagan River in Negros Occidental after a molasses spill from a sugar mill.
Binalbagan MDRRMO
The provincial government's Invest Negros Occidental directory of local sugar mills lists popular singer Jose Mari Chan as BISCOM's president
NEGROS OCCIDENTAL, Philippines – The Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) in Western Visayas has ordered the Binalbagan-Isabela Sugar Company (BISCOM) to stop discharging liquid waste into community canals following a four-day molasses spill that polluted the Binalbagan River and affected four villages in Negros Occidental.
In a two-page cease and desist order signed on Wednesday, April 23, EMB-Western Visayas Director Ramar Neil Pascua ordered BISCOM to stop its discharges for seven days.
Officials said the cease and desist order could be extended after a week, depending on the findings of an adjudication board.
The spill began on April 19 when a containment pond ruptured, releasing an estimated 2,400 tons of diluted molasses into the river and triggering a fish kill, local officials said.
BISCOM has owned responsibility, and apologized to residents affected by the spill in the villages of Canmoros, San Juan, Progreso, and Marina. The provincial government’s Invest Negros Occidental directory of local sugar mills lists popular singer Jose Mari Chan as BISCOM’s president.
EMB-Western Visayas legal chief Wilma Lagance said the company would be held liable for violating Section 27(A) of the Clean Water Act, which prohibits discharges that pollute or obstruct waterways.
“The penalty will range from P25,937.42 to P500,478.49,” Lagance said. “It’s up for PAB to determine the exact amount to be imposed on BISCOM later.”
She said the EMB has forwarded the case to the Pollution Adjudication Board (PAB) for penalty determination, adding that laboratory results from water samples were no longer necessary.
“What is clear is, we’ve already determined BISCOM’s violation and the imposable penalty,” Lagance said. – Rappler.com
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