SUBIC BAY FREEPORT\u2014An independent investigation initiated by the Subic Bay Freeport Chamber of Commerce has concluded that a US Navy contractor violated Philippine laws when it dumped waste from an American ship outside Subic waters in October.
\nThe chamber also said in its Dec. 2 report that the waste dumped by Glenn Defense Marine Asia Philippines Inc., a subsidiary of a Singapore-based company, might not have been \u201ctoxic\u201d as defined by Philippine laws but contained pollutants that exceeded sanitation and water quality limits.
\nIt said the dumping took place \u201cinside the Philippine exclusive economic zone which is still covered by the Philippine Clean Water Act of 2004 (Republic Act No. 9275).\u201d
\nGlenn Defense had admitted that it dumped the waste 17 nautical miles from the nearest shoreline of Subic Bay.
\nBut the chamber investigation concluded that Glenn Defense dumped the waste in an area of Philippine seas which \u201cwas 9 nautical miles short of the PCG (Philippine Coast Guard) designated dumping point.\u201d This meant the firm might have violated the 1973 International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, the chamber said.
\nDanny Piano, Subic Chamber president, said in the report that his group pursued the investigation to \u201cmake a sound judgment as to whether it would [expel] or \u2026 suspend Glenn Defense\u2019s membership in the Subic Chamber, [or whether it would] clear it from wrongdoing, thereby retaining its membership.\u201d
\nThe Subic Chamber also issued a set of recommendations that may help end ocean dumping on Philippine waters.
\nGlenn Defense had been accused of dumping 50,000 gallons of domestic waste from USS Emory Land without the permission of authorities like the Coast Guard.
\nRetired Vice Adm. Mateo Mayuga, president of Glenn Defense Marine Asia Philippines, denied the charges and said the company had followed Philippine laws.
\nBut when he was asked to react to the chamber\u2019s latest report, through the firm\u2019s public relations consultant, Carolyn Esposo-Espiritu, Mayuga declined to comment.
\nSubic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) Chair Roberto Garcia said the chamber\u2019s report had confirmed SBMA\u2019s own finding that \u201cordinary sewage water without heavy metals\u201d had been dumped by Glenn Defense. \u201cSo that\u2019s good,\u201d he said, without elaborating.
\nAlthough the SBMA had investigated Glenn Defense for dumping, it had reacted strongly to descriptions that the waste that was dumped was toxic.
\n\u201cThere seemed to be no question that Glenn Defense committed violations when they dumped waste without the necessary permits and by not following regulations,\u201d the Subic Chamber report said.
\nIt said the Oct. 15 environmental inspection report of
\nthe SBMA\u2019s Ecology Center and the Oct. 16 testimony of Glenn Defense ship captain Edilberto Acedilla, who commands the MT Glenn Guardian, confirmed that Glenn Defense dumped waste on Philippine waters outside Subic Bay.
\nThe investigation failed to gather vessel tracking records of Glenn Defense from authorities but accounts and narratives provided by the firm\u2019s captain, Mayuga and other sources led it to \u201cassume that the waste was dumped 17 nautical miles from the nearest shoreline,\u201d the report said.
\nThe hauled waste was \u201cdefinitely not pretreated,\u201d the chamber said. With a report from Robert Gonzaga, Inquirer Central Luzon <\/p>\n