DAVAO CITY — The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) XI on Monday, January 17, served a cease and desist orders and notice of violations to a mining company operating in the town of Banaybanay, Davao Oriental.
Environment XI Regional Executive Director Bagani Fidel Evasco in a press conference Monday cited three violations committed by the mining firm which prompted them to issue a show cause order, a notice of violation and a cease and desist order.
Evasco said the company failed to establish a water treatment facility, material recovery facility and enough siltation ponds which prompted the water to directly flow to the Mapagba and Pintatagan Rivers on January 14.
The DENR said heavy siltation incident happened after heavy rains occurred for more than 12 hours with an accumulated rainfall intensity of 111MM from January 13 at 12 noon to January 14 at 5 AM.
Environmental Management Bureau regional director the statement added that, “The large volume of water allegedly may have resulted to such siltation that caused discoloration of the said river. “
The DENR and its Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) issued Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC) to Riverbend Consolidated Mining Corporation/ARC Nickle resources Inc. (RCMC/ARCI) represented by Mr. Nicanor L. Escalante, the director of the company on November 4, 2020.
Some permits according to Atty. Jasper Anthony Lascano was approved way back 2018 but the company only started the operation on September 28, 2021.
The RCMC/ARC is operating in five barangays of Banaybanay namely: Pintatagan, Punta Linao, Maputi, Kauswagan and Mahayag.
Their ECC and tree cutting permits cover 6,363 hectares of land in the five barangays of the town namely: Pintatagan, Punta Linao, Kauswagan, Maputi and Mahayag. It is stipulated on the ECC that “The proponent is expected to fully implement the measures presented in the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) intended to protect and mitigate the projects expected adverse impacts on community health, welfare and environment. Environmental considerations shall be incorporated in all phases and aspects of the project.”
With the issuance of the CDOs and the NOVs the company is expected to stop their operations.
But Evasco clarified, the company can operate to institute mitigating measures including the establishment of two mega pond, additional eight siltation ponds to avert the same problem in the future.
As it is now, the company has only four (4) siltation ponds.
On Friday morning, residents along the stretch of Mapagba River woke up with a murky water in the river which directly flows to the seawaters.
Mayor Ada Lopez in an interview with Newsline said when the incident was reported to her, she immediately proceeded to the company to inquire what happened and she was furnished an incident report.
“They told me that their pond overflowed due to the turbulent flow of water and it directly went to the river, they assured me that they will resolve the problem.”
Lopez told Newsline, “Actually I already received reports about fish kill and even before the Friday incident, I have scheduled a dialogue with the fisherfolks but was overtaken by the incident.”
Roed Nakila the mining firm’s spokesperson in an interview with Newsline admitted, “Due to turbulent flow of water, the strong current did not settle in our water detention pond and it directly flowed downstream- to the river, we established our water detention pond based on the approved design but the water found differently direction, instead of settling on the pond, it directly went to the river but we will do the corrective measure based on what happened.”
Sammy Quijano, the village chief of Mapagba told Newsline in vernacular, “We were not consulted about the project, I guess everything was done up there (pointing to central offices of the agencies involved) we just learned that the nickle operation started, look at our river, its brown. I do not know if it is contaminated or safe, just look at the color.”
The RCMC/ARC exports nickle to China but the company refused to reveal the volume of their export.
Residents in the areas told Newsline, a cargo ship left Banaybanay water on January 7, 2022 but another vessel arrived on January 11 and remain in the shore until now.
The DENR said heavy siltation incident happened after heavy rains occurred for more than 12 hours with an accumulated rainfall intensity of 111MM from January 13 at 12 noon to January 14 at 5 AM.
Mario Bulacan, Regional Director of the Environmental Management Bureau said, “The large volume of water allegedly may have resulted to such siltation that caused discoloration of the said river. “
On January 15, the DENR sent an investigating team and conducted an investigation and assessment of the areas to evaluate the cause of the said incident. The team was composed of personnel from the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB XI), Environmental Management Bureau (EMB XI), and Community Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO) Lupon.
Roed Nakila Technical consultant of RCMC/ARC explained that water run off outside the four existing siltation pond, “The water did not settle in the water but it found its way outside the ponds and it directly went to the rivers.”
Davao Oriental Governor Nelson Dayanghirang welcomed the decision of the DENR in issuing the CDO.
Atty. Jasper Anthony Lascano, Regional Director of the Mines and Geosciences said the company is now working to put mitigating measures that which are climate change aligned.
Mario Bulacan, Regional Director of the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) said the orange water does not mean chemical, “It is a water reaction because of the iron content of the soil not due to mine tilling.”
Nakita said they already distributed relief goods to the affected communities and they have been desilting of the rivers.
With the incident in Banaybanay, Evasco called on all mining companies in the region to prepare their contingency measures and provide all the necessary measures to avoid repetition of said problem. -Editha Z. Caduaya
