The ECC is a project-specific permit that makes the proponent directly responsible for the project, he said. Singaporeans may have the second most powerful passports in the world, but it doesn't mean we don't need to get our visas done to travel to these 7 countries! The Marilao River was also the subject of two Greenpeace reports finding lead and other heavy metals due to industrial pollution. Phase 2 involved the placement of floating aerators on three of the five ponds, which was worth P2 million. Its a high-maintenance waste. 144419N 1205738E / 14.73861N 120.96056E Meycauayan station is a former railway station located on the North Main Line in Bulacan, Philippines. Sanay na ang mga tao dito sa amoy. Michael Steele slammed the former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations' "bubblegum speak" when it comes to the former president. Reviewing Blacksmiths findings, the Greenpeace report states that pollution has reached the rivers groundwater, and the extent of manganese, zinc, nickel and Marilao The Marilao-Meycauayan-Obando River System is known to be heavily polluted with organics and heavy metals, thus affecting the ecosystem. This remains to be seen, however. Ang tubig parang hindi na liquid e Parang lupa na. As of now, Greenpeace said the MMORS (also known as the Marilao River system) is biologically dead --- it has zero levels of oxygen thus life can hardly thrive in it. Microplastics Occurrence in Surface Waters Lazo said Barbatos also started a P6.1-million project, composed of a three-phase process, to overhaul the dressing plants wastewater treatment system. WebThe Marilao-Meycauayan-Obando River System (MMORS) is cited as one of the 30 most polluted rivers in the world by the Blacksmith Institute in 2008 due to its huge discharge and accumulation for years of industrial and domestic pollutants. The raw feathers already have a fishy smell), Lazo said. Ibig sabihin hindi na umaagos. Your email address will not be published. The country is surrounded by water: the Luzon Strait, the South China Sea, the Sulu Sea, the Celebes Sea and the Philippine Sea. 8. Four reporting fellows of the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) took a motorized boat to Marilao River to search for the outfall pipes of the towns biggest chicken dressing plant. Only one establishment paid more than P50,000. "Siguro napadpad sila dito, inanod noong nag-high tide. Pollution A stomach-turning smell was released when the receptacle was opened. Southeast Asia's stream of polluted rivers | The ASEAN Post International Journal of Computing Sciences Research, 3 (1), 151-162. doi: 10.25147/ijcsr.2017.001.1.30. We really saw that they had their own pipe), Jurado said. It was almost one hour of this before the team reached the bridge at the mouth of the creek, where the water turned visibly foamy from the viscous effluents coming from drain pipes lining the riverside. Records from the Marilao government showed that the improvements coincided with the entry of a new business partner Barbatos Ventures Corp. to replace Alt Trading as Vitarichs business partner to operate the dressing plant. Top 11 most - Clean home, clean community, clean country Establishments must have their wastewater tested quarterly by a DENR-accredited third-party laboratory and report in their SMRs the concentrations of BOD, TSS, phosphate, acidity or pH, oil and grease, and nitrate, among others. She found at least three glaring errors wrong math, old lab tests, and expired discharge permits. Serious pollution in a lake next to the mega-city of Manila is forcing a rethink by development planners to protect water quality and fish stocks. During the process of degradation, plastic particles acquire new chemical and physical characteristics that may increase the risk of becoming hazardous to living things. The results are not reliable), she said. Background. In the 2021 research from Oxford University, Our World in Data, showed that Asian rivers contain 81% of all the plastic that reaches the oceans, with the Philippines accounting for about 30% of that total. Eduardo Lazo an executive at both the chicken dressing and rendering plants said they did not secure a permit to discharge because the rendering facility was not supposed to have effluents. Research Read Part 1: The Bulacan town where chickens are slaughtered and the river is dead. Marilao River is part of Meycuayan-Marilao-Obando River System that dumps wastes into the bay. 2003-27: (1) allow establishments to demonstrate compliance with environmental laws; and (2) allow the EMB to confirm or validate that these firms comply with these laws., Submitted every quarter, the SMRs are filled up by pollution control officers accredited by the DENR to report production capacities, actual outputs, number of operating hours in a day, number of workdays in a week, and quarterly water and electricity consumption.. The brown liquid waste that flowed from pipes jutting from the compound of Vitarich Corp., one of the countrys biggest poultry and feed firms, was visible from a window of the Municipal Health Office (MHO) of Marilao. The heavens seemed to know about our mutton soup tasting last week, gifting us with a heavy downpour to create the perfect atmosphere to visit Lao Wu Ji Mutton Soup at Sunday F&B kopitiam at Ang Mo Kio. Kino-comply pero tingin namin hindi 100% totoo (But theyre not ready yet in terms of self-regulation. If they were given time to address their deficiencies but were unable to solve the problem, the establishments should have been slapped with notices of violation, said Uyaco., Philippine mines continue unhampered 4 years after Gina's shutdown order, Q&A: Myanmar situation 'different from 1988,' Asean should step up to facilitate talks, Primer: 20 questions on the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020. Philippine Center river Your email address will not be published. She found discrepancies between per quarter declarations of total water consumption and the breakdown of water usage in six SMRs. The Philippines, the top-emitting country, alone contributes around 36.4% of the worlds total much higher than the most populous countries (China 7% and India 13%)! The culprit, according to residents, are the poultry processing plants in the adjacent barangays of Santa Rosa I, Santa Rosa II, Patubig, and Loma de Gato that release wastewater to the river. Isipin mo, its even more profitable to just pay. She called for the strict enforcement of the 2004 Clean Water Act, passed by Congress to make sure that a thorough accounting of industrial wastewater pollutants and their toll on the environment is conducted regularly.. San Miguel Corporation (SMC) is currently dredging the Tullahan river section from Barangay Tanong in Malabon City to the rivers mouth leading to Manila Bay in Navotas City. Ultimately, the biggest problem is the people polluting the rivers. Authorities in Singapore have been urged to halt the hanging of two people on drug related convictions, including the first woman set for execution in nearly 20 years. Wastewater from households can contain organics which are decomposed naturally in the sewage by bacteria and other microorganisms, the dissolved oxygen content of the water is depleted. Kasikung itatapon mo itong feather sa basurahan or sa isang sanitary land facility, mapupuno tayo sa dami ng residual featherkung walang centralized na rendering plant dito sa Vitarich (We would all be swamped with feathers if you threw these in the trash can or in a sanitary land facility andif theres no centralized rendering plant in Vitarich), he said, stressing that feathers dont decompose easily in a landfill. Phone: (212) 647 8330 On Sept. 24, 2019, when the coronavirus pandemic was still months away, a PCIJ team took a motorized outrigger boat into the river and embarked on a search for the waste pipe of a poultry processing plant. Examination of the rivers water quality indicates that it is very polluted and requires an immediate solution. polluted Marilao river Greenpeace inspects polluted Marilao river - Pure Earth The wastewater looked like mud: EMB goes after Vitarich Corp Why The article caught the attention of Filipino netizens and local news media companies because it ranked the Philippines as the top contributor of plastic emissions into the world ocean. Here, where there was thick vegetation, bubbles of air rose from the water and made for an eerie atmosphere. Webshows the observed condition of Marilao River as the result of river quality monitoring since 2005. Human rights and civil society groups were back on the streets on Monday, July 24, ahead of the second State of the Nation Address (SONA) of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. PCIJ reporting fellows Annie Ruth Sabangan and Bernard Testa took these photos as they sailed into Marilao River to hunt for the drain pipes of chicken dressing and rendering plants that release wastewater into the waterway. Due to a lack of sufficient and effective sewage treatment infrastructure, only about 10% of the sewage in the Philippines is properly treated. concern for both, the government of Philippines as well as for the world. 475 Riverside Drive Suite 860 New York, NY 10115 +1.212.870.3490 www.pureearth.org On Friday, the authorities will also execute a 45-year-old woman identified as Saridewi Djamani. The Business Permits and Licensing Office (BPLO) shared Lazos position. The fluid created by fracking contains contaminants that can pollute underground water supplies. Of the 100,000 rivers included in the study, only 1/3 actually contributed to it with the remaining 2/3 emitted almost no plastic to the ocean! :: WorstPolluted.org : Projects Reports for Investigative Journalism. PCIJ, February 2021. Lara Ibaez, Philippine country director of international non-profit environmental watchdog Pure Earth, said its not enough to punish polluters over permits and other technicalities. The sampling sites were chosen to determine which portion had the highest pollution level. Dead fish floated on the water. Iyong raw feathers may malansang amoy na yan kasi (You cant say that the odor will be gone 100% because you are dealing here with waste. Kasihindi mo puwedeng sabihin na 100% mawawala ang amoy, kasi youre dealing here with waste. Continuous and inclusive river clean up drives, Resettlement of informal settlers as soon as possible, Building more wastewater and sewerage treatment facilities, Heavily penalizing environmental law violators (private sectors) and enablers (corrupt DENR and government officials), Standard sewerage and flood control canal systems in the Philippines. The chicken dressing plant of Vitarich Corp. was one of the few that EMB was able to inspect, and it was because its waste outfall was accessible, said Aguilar. They should have asked the establishment why its report was like that), said Uyaco, irked by her discovery., Like Vitarich Corp., many establishments were found to be using expired wastewater discharge permits., The establishments are required to write on the first page of their SMRs the wastewater discharge permit reference numbers, date the permit was issued, and the date it will expire. The discharge was clean and no longer smelly, according to the report signed by Buenaventura and business licensing head Martin Armando Cruz. Hindi madalas (Not often), said Dizon of the EMB Region 3s Environmental Monitoring and Enforcement Division, when the PCIJ asked him in late 2019. Hindi nare-review lahat ng SMRsAdditional burden sa amin. But it will take many, many years. Singapore and former Mediacorp actress Ya Hui shared about incidents in her past where she had been touched inappropriately. Building. (B)ababa yong masisingil sa kanilang bayarin, yung wastewater charges kasi hindi nare-report ng tama (Collections from their wastewater charges would decrease because its not being reported correctly), she said.. WebPhilippines, Marilao, Meycauayan and Obando River System: Cleaning up with zeolite and probiotics filtering systems . Majority of media channels are also now owned by religious sects, politicians, and tycoons closely affiliated with key government officials such as the President himself. Next: Poultry processing plants responsible for the pollution of Marilao River have gotten away with small fines. Alenq / Shutterstock.com. They were punished not for polluting the Marilao River, however, but for technical violations related to their permits or failure to submit various reports. Bulakenyos are disgusted to learn that the Meycauayan River is ranked 5th in the Global List of Plastic-Emitting Rivers of 2021. While the Municipal Health Office has the mandate to go after pollutive industries, it has not been able to exercise its powers. Meijer, L. J. J., Emmerik, T. van, Ent, R. van der, Schmidt, C., & Lebreton, L. (2021, April 1). Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. 475 Riverside Drive Suite 860 New York, NY 10115 +1.212.870.3490 www.pureearth.org WebMeycauayan station. UN Environment has been studying concentrations of nitrogen in the lake as well as nutrients entering Manila Bay to the west of the city as part of the Global Nutrient Cycle Project. Can I drink the tap water in the Philippines? Best water filter? Where can you find an engineer working as a PCO in a gasoline station? The people of the Philippines need to be made aware of the health and economic impacts of water pollution, and they should be encouraged to be become involved in decision making processes that affect water management policies. The mans attorney said the violence, which left him with a concussion, was retaliatory. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); https://environmentgo.com/author/ascension/, 10 Causes of Water Pollution in the Philippines, 10 Best Small Trees for Front Yard in Florida, 10 Best Water Treatment Engineering Courses. Furthermore, we must speed up our shift to more sustainable alternatives to plastics because, in the end, the problems will continue circulating and worsen if we wont take drastic actions. Increased population, urbanization, agriculture and industrialization have all reduced the quality of water in the Philippines. Its an indication na patay na yung tubigAng isda hindi siya mabubuhay kung walang oxygen (Its an indication that the river is dead. (632) 3433-0331Training (632) 3433-0331Training The waters were still, but the boat had to stop at least five times. There are a number of actions that the nation of the Philippines can take to address its national problems associated with water pollution. Yung SMR, yan yung self-regulation na tinatawag. It was near impossible to wade through the sludge on the river bed. Short Paper Predicting Pollution Level Using Random Forest: A It was that clean)," the 80-year-old mayor who grew up by the riverbanks related. Kasi ang claim nila wala silang discharge kasi naka-line lang sila sa dressing plant. WebThe Marilao in Bulacan is among four iconic rivers whose polluted conditions are spotlighted in Hidden Consequences, a new report published today by Greenpeace. Life can be restored at the Marilao-Meycauayan-Obando river system (MMORS). From February 2016 to August 2018, EMB Region 3 only collected P1.4 million of wastewater discharge fees from 388 establishments along the entire MMORS, based on documents that EMB Region 3s senior environmental management specialist Ramjay Dizon showed to PCIJ.. The river remains immaculate and a must-visit for anyone who wants to take a break from the pollution in Metro Manila. No fish will survive here)," Marlo said. Aside from organic pollution, there were abundances of heavy metal that may Naka-accredit yan kasi ang third-party lab hindi nya pwedeng lokohin yong resulta nya, masisira sya, di ba po? Kaya yun kung may mga info silang nakukuha, inilalagay ko yan sa reports (Its being tampered with because those things are intentional. The feathers must first be filtered out of water. But the lakes importance has placed it in peril from a host of problems, including pollution from untreated sewage and industrial waste, over-fishing and the sedimentation and illegal reclamation that are eroding its capacity. The Meycauayan River is part of the Marilao-Meycauayan-Obando river system (MMORS). An estimated 58% of the groundwater in the Philippines has been contaminated with coliform bacteria and should be treated. WebDownloadable! Also in the process of Fracking that is the extraction of oil or natural gas from rock. Fax: +1 (212) 870 3488 By Eimor SantosPhotos and video by Vincent GoVERA Files. Does the ice plant need a discharge permit from the EMB? A significant factor in the countrys declining species diversity is plastic waste which makes its way to the ocean where it is consumed by birds and other sea life. It only takes into account two out of 49 water quality parameters set by the EMB which include ammonia, boron, and chloride, arsenic, lead, and fecal coliform among others. In the Philippines poorest communities, waste is rarely collected, and sometimes not at all, resulting in unlawful dumping. Focusing mitigation strategies in richer countries wont make much difference because their ocean plastic inputs are low. At the EMB office in Region 3, Elisa Dimaliwat, chief of the bureaus Environmental Monitoring and Enforcement Division at the time of her interview with PCIJ in 2019, said she would rather trust in the capability of establishments to do honest-to-goodness self-monitoring with the assistance of accredited third-party testing firms., She said the laboratories that analyzed the effluent samples of establishments went thorough screening by the DENR. It is the first open-access journal published by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, making it a trustworthy and reliable source. E noong pag-inspection namin, meron silang sariling wastewater discharge. Though richer countries produce much more plastic waste per person than poorer countries, the probability of having more plastics draining into the ocean is affected by the climate, geographical setting, and local waste management practices. Marilaos foul odors, coming from the Marilao River and its tributaries, are so notorious that it is the occasional subject of contempt on social media. Spurs have issued the least effective ultimatum in history by telling Man Utd target Harry Kane he will be sold if he does not sign a new deal this summer.