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Around 170 families evacuated to Obando, Bulacan have returned home as air quality stabilized after the containment of the fire at a Navotas landfill, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) said Monday.
“The air is clearing, the danger is receding, and the science shows that our communities are safer today than they were at the height of the incident,” DENR Secretary Juan Miguel Cuna said in a statement.
According to the DENR, the air quality across Metro Manila and nearby areas in Bulacan has steadily recovered. The monitoring stations in Navotas and Caloocan in Metro Manila as well as Meycauayan and Obando in Bulacan recorded “fair” to “good” air quality levels.
With this development, the DENR said all 170 families temporarily evacuated in Obando had safely returned home as of May 4, citing information from the Office of Civil Defense (OCD).
The fire at the Navotas landfill started on April 10 and was extinguished on May 10.
Despite the improving conditions, the DENR said it has tightened oversight over the landfill’s operator, Philippine Ecology Systems Corp. (PHILECO), and initiated legal action over alleged environmental violations.
The DENR said Notices of Violation were issued against PHILECO for alleged non-compliance with Environmental Compliance Certificate conditions.
These include failure to submit a Safe Closure and Rehabilitation Plan, insufficient air pollution control systems such as gas vent pipes, failure to comply with daily soil cover requirements, unauthorized discharges under the Clean Water Act, and failure to complete an Abandonment Plan.
Case build-up proceedings are ongoing with the Office of the Solicitor General as judicial affidavits from witnesses are being finalized, according to the DENR.
According to the DENR, methane buildup from mixed waste is a known cause of subsurface landfill fires.
The agency urged local government units to strictly implement “no segregation, no collection” policies and ensure the proper operation of materials recovery facilities.
“We must stop confusing open dumps with properly managed SLFs. Modern waste management means well-run and rehabilitated sanitary landfills, enhanced by enclosed, modern resource-recovery systems,” Cuna said.
The DENR said it remains open to adopting advanced waste management technologies designed to reduce fire risks, recover resources, and lessen dependence on traditional landfilling methods. —RF, GMA News
