ILOILO City – Was coal ash used as filling materials for the expansion of the Iloilo Esplanade just behind a hotel on Bonifacio Drive?
Laboratory analysis would have a definitive answer to the question, according to the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) Region 6.
Samples of filling materials were taken from the area for analysis despite the confirmation from former EMB Region 6 officer-in-charge Ariel Gloria that in 2017 he authorized a contractor to haul coal ash from Panay Energy Development Corp.’s (PEDC) coal-fired power plant in Barangay Ingore, La Paz district for four projects needing filling materials and these included the Iloilo Esplanade.
EMB is pushing through with the laboratory analysis following a complaint lodged by a concerned citizen who claimed the coal ash was toxic to humans, animals and the environment.
According to Atty. Ramar Neil Pascua, legal officer of EMB-6, nine samples were initially gathered from the esplanade. Laboratory tests showed them with sulfate content.
Pascua, however, said the result was not definitive enough because aside from coal, other filling materials may have sulfate, too.
Because of this, said Pascua, EMB took more samples from the main source of the esplanade’s filling materials in Cabatuan, Iloilo for analysis.
“Kon manubo ang result sang sulfate didto sa Cabatuan, dako ang probability nga ang sulfate nga makita naton sa sample nga naghalin sa esplanade is from coal ash. Pero kun mataas ang sulfate content sang filling material sa Cabatuan, may probability nga wala sang coal ash sa esplanade,” said Pascua.
The result of the confirmatory test – in Metro Manila – may be known in three weeks, said Pascua.
He also stressed that every quarter, PEDC submits the results of its coal ash’s toxicity characteristics leaching procedure (TCLP).
Former EMB-6 chief Gloria said he approved Sancho-Lavilla Builders Inc.’s housing of coal ash from PEDC last year because tests showed that the PEDC coal ash was not toxic./PN
