Temporary closure order for Irisan dumpsite, lifted

July 7, 2019 Metro BLISTT

BAGUIO CITY – Effective July 1, 2019, the recently issued temporary closure order of Irisan dumpsite is lifted with conditions, the regional Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR-CAR) said in a statement on Wednesday, July 3, 2019.

The statement said that the relief of the order is granted provided that all accumulated stored mixed waste materials or raw compost mixed with plastics are hauled out of the area; that all equipment or machines to be used in converting raw compost into organic fertilizers are installed and operationalized; that only biodegradable wastes are collected in the area; and that no residual waste is stored in the area.

All of the foregoing conditions shall be complied with not later than July 31, 2019, the statement said. The statement also said that the conversion of the Irisan dumpsite into an environmentally-friendly ecopark should be finished not later than December 31, 2019.

DENR-CAR issued a temporary closure order to the City Government of Baguio on June 26, 2019 for its failure to implement Item 2 of Case No. CA-G.R. SP No. 00006 Consent Decree, specifically the transformation and establishment of an environment-friendly ecopark at the Irisan dumpsite area, and the stoppage of all activities which may hamper, defeat or contradict such.

The City Government was also found in violation of the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000 and its Implementing Rules and Regulations for causing or permitting the collection of nonsegregated or unsorted wastes.

The statement said that Baguio City General Services Office head Eugene Buyucan explained it has yet to carry out its obligation to convert and establish the area of the Irisandumpsite into an ecopark, and that an Irisan Dumpsite Eco-Park Development Plan has been submitted to the Court of Appeals on April 24, 2019.

P10,000,000 funding has been allocated by the City Government of Baguio for its implementation, however, Buyucan manifested that the plans of an eco-park in the area could not be immediately pushed through due to accumulated raw compost in the area and the fact that the soil therein is loose.

It has to be made sure that the soil is stable before the plan for an ecological park in the area is implemented. Buyucan added that biodegradable wastes collected are wrapped in plastic containers. He claimed that this malpractice has been addressed by hiring casual employees responsible for removing plastic containers and other non-biodegradable wastes mixed in the collected garbage, the statement said.

The statement also said that DENR, through its Legal Division and its Environmental Management Bureau-CAR (EMB-CAR), shall closely monitor the compliance of the City Government of Baguio to the conditions set by DENR and that EMB-CAR shall also monitor the situation in the dumpsite to ensure hazardous conditions and health risks to people working and living near the area are averted, being DENR’s line bureau primarily responsible in overseeing local government units’ implementation of the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act.

DENR-CAR will also work closely with the City Government of Baguio for any technical assistance it may offer, especially on the establishment of an eco-park in the Irisan dumpsite area.

The Temporary Closure Order and the lifting of the same was signed by DENR-CAR’s Regional Executive Director in accordance with Department Administrative Order No. 2018-18 entitled “Establishing a centralized management and coordinative mechanism at the Regional Offices of DENR, MGB and EMB, and designating the DENR Regional Director as the Regional Executive Director providing overall command of operations to the Regional Executive Director” which took effect on September 2018, the statement said.

Merriam del Rosario-ABN