By EUGENE ADIONG
SAN CARLOS City — The management of San Carlos Bioenergy, Inc. here disputed claims that the overflow of its wastewater lagoon was intentional.
It also assured that it has committed to finding a long-term solution to the foul odor emitted by the plant’s wastewater.
“To set the record straight,” plant manager Arnel Amparo said, the plant “did not deliberately throw wastewater into the city’s canals.”
Amparo described the lagoon overflow, which happened during the Holy Week and inconvenienced nearby residents, as “an accident.”
It was caused by three consecutive days of heavy rains, he stressed.
“Even though we stopped the operation of the plant, we could not stop the overflow of the wastewater,” he said.
Reports also said the wastewater, some of which spilled into the sea, resulted in a fish kill. But Amparo denied this. “Since March 16, we closed the canals [toward] the sea,” he said. “There was also no report of discoloration of the water in the canals.”
He also said the company will send a team to confirm reports that shells were back in this city’s coastal areas amid claims that they disappeared ever since the bio-ethanol plant operated here five years ago.
Amparo said they have been disposing their wastewater into fishponds in a 40-hectare property, owned by 1st District Rep. Julio Ledesma IV, beside the plant.
He said the company will also buy additional units of anaerobic digesters in addition to the five units already in the plant.
New units will be installed this year, as the company promised to the City Council and the barangays, he said.
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources earlier granted the company a permit to barge out its wastewater.
With these “temporary solutions,” the company expects the foul odor to disappear by the weekend, said Amparo.
But he said the progress of the disposal will depend on the weather — two days if the weather is fair and more than three days if otherwise./PN
