Hermosa Mayor Jopet Inton on Thursday morning served the cease and desist order from the local government ordering the temporary stoppage of operation of the Hermosa Sanitary Landfill Facility (Hermosa SLF), operated by Econest Waste Management Corp.
“This is in view of the investigation being conducted by the EMB DENR dahil sa kanilang violations ng environmental laws,” Mayor Inton told local newsmen who covered the event.
The mayor was joined by the Hermosa police led by Major Jeffrey Onde, Hermosa Marshals led by chief marshal Jason Enriquez, provincial legal counsels, MENRO Orly Balean, barangay officials and Councilor Luz J. Samaniego. Inton personally locked the gate of the landfill with a huge tarpaulin streamer with a notice to the public that says “Temporarily Closed” in bold red-colored letters.
Recently, the Hermosa LGU and the EMB-DENR issued separate notices of violations to Econest WMC citing its operation “without a valid Discharge Permit and Hazardous Waste Generator Registration Certificate, some of its treatment units on their Leachate Treatment Facilities have no protective lining which may cause groundwater contamination due to leachate seepage.”
Mayor Inton also revealed that they are closely monitoring a portion of lot inside the seven-hectare landfill and will soon dig in to the area to find out regarding a report from Udenna Environmental Services Inc. (UdESI), a liquid waste treatment facility located just across the Hermosa SLF, that certain toxic chemicals were buried in the area.
“Kausap ko na yung Udenna inamin na nila sa akin na may mga ibinaong mga kemikal ang Econest sa area na yan,” Inton told the press pointing to the location.
The UdESI waste treatment facility, owned by Dennis Uy, one of President Duterte’s major financiers during the 2016 presidential elections, was also ordered closed by Mayor Inton last December 2019 due to some environmental issues.
Mayor Inton also pointed out that Econest WMC failed to remit what is due to the Hermosa LGU from the profits of the company’s business operations in accepting other LGUs’ wastes.
Last February 19, Atty. Beulah Coeli Fiel, CEO and President of Econest WMC, in a press conference held in Balanga City denied all the allegations of Mayor Inton saying, “only the EMB-DENR can impose environmental laws and will only turn it over to the municipality subject to the recovery of our investments.”
Reacting to Fiel’s statement, the Mayor said,”Dahil hindi naman natin pwedeng payagan na patuloy nilang dinudumihan ang ating kapaligiran, malinaw ang kanilang violations base sa findings ng EMB DENR, at kung anuman ang kanilang diversionary tactics eh bahala na sila doon.”
Other sources from the municipality said they have secured a temporary waste disposal area being operated by another private company.