BACOLOD City – The river near the sanitary landfill in Barangay Felisa here may be contaminated.
A water quality testing is being planned, according to Councilor Carlos Lopez, chairman of the Sangguniang Panlungsod’s (SP) committee on environment and ecology.
The help of the Environment and Management Bureau (EMB) of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has been sought.
Residents of nearby Barangay Blumentritt, Murcia, Negros Occidental and Barangay Dulao, Bago City, Negros Occidental recently complained about the foul smell from the sanitary landfill.
The dumpsite may have contaminated the river, they added.
The SP earlier passed a resolution urging the Solid Waste Management Board to close the sanitary landfill’s Cell No. 1 and make a rehabilitation plan for it.
According to Lopez, Cell No. 1 already reached its maximum capacity, making it an “open dumpsite.”
Due to alleged lack of maintenance, Cell No. 2 was constructed – just right next to it – last year./PN
