\u2018SAFE FOR DISPOSAL\u2019 Retired Vice Adm. Mateo Mayuga, CEO of Glenn Defense Marine Philippines Inc., said \u201cdomestic waste\u201d dumped into Subic Bay is \u201cclean.\u201d NI\u00d1O JESUS ORBETA
\nThe head of the Philippine office of a US Navy contractor on Monday disputed claims by government agencies that it dumped into Subic Bay toxic wastes from American ships that recently took part in joint military exercises in the country.
\nFive days after the Philippine Daily Inquirer reported the environment issue, retired Vice Adm. Mateo Mayuga, CEO of Glenn Defense Marine Philippines Inc., called reports about the company dumping hazardous wastes into the bay \u201cinaccurate or false.\u201d
\nMayuga said the local office of a Singapore-based multinational company operating in 27 countries handled domestic wastes from the toilets and kitchens of US Navy ships, but, according to him, these were safe for disposal.
\n\u201cWhat we get from the US Navy are already pretreated wastewater. These are even cleaner than the ones coming out of our respective homes. I\u2019m sorry to say that,\u201d Mayuga told reporters Monday at a press briefing in Makati City.
\nRoberto Garcia, chairman of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA), earlier told reporters that test results showed that Glenn Defense vessels were carrying \u201csewage waste with high levels of toxicity.\u201d
\nGarcia said the results \u201cconfirmed that [Glenn Defense] did not treat the waste, which it should have.\u201d
\nLab tests
\nHernan Habacon, spokesperson of Subic Water and Sewerage Co. that tested water samples from a Glenn Defense vessel, said the results showed that these were \u201cbeyond the permissible limits.\u201d
\nResults of the tests obtained by the Inquirer showed that samples of effluents taken from vessels of the US Navy contractor exceeded Philippine standards, but these were not tested for heavy metals because the firm that conducted the tests, Subic Water, was not equipped to do so.
\nEven so, the SBMA Ecology Center said wastes collected from American ships and dumped into Philippine waters last month could not be classified as \u201chazardous wastes.\u201d
\nAsked to confirm reports that the center had told the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) that the wastes dumped by Glenn Defense\u2019s vessels could not be considered hazardous, Angel Bagaloyos, acting head of the center, said in a text message: \u201cTechnically, yes.\u201d
\nAsked to elaborate, Bagaloyos said: \u201cBy law, Republic Act No. 6969, sewage is exempted. The law on hazard waste management identifies hazard waste.\u201d
\nRA 6969 (Toxic Substances and Hazardous and Nuclear Waste Control Act of 1990) defines hazardous wastes as \u201csubstances that are without any safe commercial, industrial, agricultural or economic usage and are shipped, transported or brought from the country of origin for dumping or disposal into or in transit through any part of the territory of the Philippines.\u201d
\n\u201cHazardous wastes shall also refer to by-products, side-products, process residues, spent reaction media, contaminated plant or equipment or other substances from manufacturing operations, and as consumer discards of manufactured products,\u201d it says.
\nSeptage
\nCiting information shared by the SBMA at a technical conference in Pampanga on Monday where things were supposedly clarified, EMB Director for Central Luzon Lormelyn Claudio said: \u201cIt is septage, not hazardous waste. It\u2019s domestic waste.\u201d
\nAsked by the Inquirer to explain that in layman\u2019s term, she said: \u201cFeces.\u201d
\nWhether the effluents were at hazardous levels is still subject to laboratory tests, she said.
\nWhere exactly the wastes were dumped will be established by the SBMA, she said.
\n37 km from bay
\nThe SBMA, in a spot inspection report on Oct. 15, said it was told by the captain of a Glenn Defense vessel, the MT Glenn Guardian, that the wastes would be dumped at least 37 kilometers from Subic Bay last month.
\nThe SBMA team found some 189,500 liters of domestic waste and about 760 liters of bilge water (a combination of water, oil and grease) during an inspection of the vessel. These were hauled from the US Navy ship Emory Land.
\nMayuga said he would never let dumping of toxic waste into Subic Bay happen. \u201cI\u2019m also a Filipino,\u201d he said.
\nUS Navy responsibility
\nMayuga said it was the responsibility of the US Navy to ensure that the wastewater had undergone treatment.
\n\u201cThe US Navy and even commercial vessels have water treatment facilities aboard their ships,\u201d said Mayuga, who in 2005 led a military inquiry into the involvement of at least four generals tagged in the \u201cHello Garci\u201d election fraud scandal during the Arroyo administration.
\nAsked if the US Navy contractor had a way of knowing whether the water passed to its tankers was treated, Mayuga said: \u201cThey have to make sure that the water had been pretreated.\u201d
\n\u201cOur clients must do the testing themselves. It\u2019s a practice in the US Navy that you don\u2019t give away untreated wastewater,\u201d Mayuga added.
\nHe refused to answer the question on who should be blamed if the water dumped into the sea was toxic. \u201cThere are procedures to know who dumped the wastewater. We have the technology now to determine who the source was,\u201d he said.
\nGlenn Defense also serviced the 103 ships that made calls at the Subic Bay Freeport from Oct. 3 to Dec. 22, 2009, Jan. 5 to Oct. 12, 2010, Aug. 21 to Nov. 10, 2011, and Jan. 2 to Oct. 17, 2012, records released by the SBMA showed.<\/p>\n
Investigations
\nMayuga said he was open to any investigation. \u201cAs long as it (claim) is valid, we welcome this. That\u2019s the only way to move forward.\u201d
\nPleading to the media to honor only the sources that are willing to be named, he said \u201call this [controversy] started from one inaccurate report that took on a life of its own.\u201d
\nMayuga said the report had originated from anonymous calls the SBMA had received.
\nThe US Navy and the SBMA have launched an investigation of the allegations of hazardous-waste dumping by Glenn Defense.
\nSuspended
\nPending the results of the investigation, the Subic Bay Freeport Chamber of Commerce also announced it had suspended the membership of the contractor, a registered locator at the Subic Bay Freeport.
\nAn internal investigation on Glenn Defense\u2019s part, however, was no longer necessary, Mayuga said.
\n\u201cAfter every ship visit, we do a hotwash. It\u2019s a critical analysis we do on how we had performed, both the good and the bad (aspects),\u201d he said. \u201cAnd we have done nothing wrong.\u201d
\nMayuga said he found it ironic that his company was at the center of an environmental controversy when he and his family have been concerned about the environment.
\n\u201cI have a daughter who owns two organic stores. She\u2019s a vegetarian. Our grandchildren prefer organic materials at home. How could I violate environmental laws and still have the gall to face them?\u201d he said.
\n\u201cWe are a responsible company and we will do everything without compromise to observe established standards of releasing pretreated waste to the ocean at the internationally prescribed distances,\u201d he said.
\nMayuga said he was still waiting for the SBMA Ecology Center to call him for a meeting on the matter.
\nContrary to reports that Glenn Defense was hiding under the skirt of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA), Mayuga said the company was not covered by the bilateral agreement \u201cnor do we claim to be.\u201d
\n\u201cWe service only US Navy ships but we are not in any way included in VFA arrangements,\u201d he said.
\nBagaloyos did not reply to the Inquirer\u2019s query if the SBMA Ecology Center had examined the entire composition of the wastewater samples taken from the Glenn Defense vessels.
\nWhile the EMB was holding the technical conference, the SBMA board held an emergency meeting at Gateway Mall in Quezon City on the findings of the SBMA Ecology Center regarding the issue of waste dumping into Subic Bay.
\nGarcia did not respond to the Inquirer\u2019s calls and text messages on the results of the board meeting.
\n\u2018Beyond permissible limits\u2019
\nHabacon, spokesperson for Subic Water, said in a statement: \u201cThe SBMA Ecology Center sent us a sample for [laboratory] testing, allegedly from the said vessel, [MT] Glenn Guardian. We tested it for domestic strength only, and the results showed that it was beyond the permissible limits. The sample is of industrial strength.\u201d
\nSubic Water treats only domestic wastewater and it has no capability to test the presence of heavy metals, Habacon said.
\n\u201cThe result we sent to SBMA Ecology Center, therefore, is not conclusive whether the sample is toxic or not. But as per our standards, the sample was not fit for release in the environment as the organic content was beyond the permissible limits,\u201d he said.
\nA source familiar with the investigation of the SBMA Ecology Center told the Inquirer: \u201cThe mere fact that the wastewater was industrial grade means it is already hazardous to the environment, and violates DENR Administrative Order No. 35, which contains the standard for the discharging of treated wastewater.\u201d
\nThe source, who asked not to be named due to the sensitive nature of the issue, said the water samples also contained oil and grease, \u201cwhich can be classified as hazardous.\u201d
\nSought for comment on the SBMA Ecology Center\u2019s findings, former Environment Undersecretary Gregorio Magdaraog, president of the Subic Bay Freeport Chamber for Health and Environment Conservation said:
\n\u201cFecal waste in water pollutes the environment with pathogenic bacteria, viruses and parasites that can cause disease to humans and other living creatures. Serious diseases can be caused [by this].\u201d
\n\u201cIt is therefore hazardous to one\u2019s health and the environment. To say otherwise is irresponsible,\u201d he said.
\nEMB\u2019s Claudio said a maritime pollution law required that effluents be treated when these are discharged 5.5 kilometers (3 nautical miles) from the coast.
\nAsked if the contractor applied for a permit to dump or collect waste from the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), Lt. Cmdr. Roben de Guzman said: \u201cAs far as I know it should [get permits from] other agencies, not us.\u201d
\nDe Guzman, station commander of Subic and head of the PCG\u2019s Port State Control Center Manila, said MT Glenn Guardian and MT Glenn Enterprise were sighted in Manila two weeks ago.<\/p>\n