Chemical fumes affect Bulacan folk

SAN JOSE DEL MONTE CITY, Bulacan – At least 200 families from Barangay Maharlika here complained of breathing problems after inhaling fumes from volatile chemicals allegedly discharged in a creek Tuesday night.

Authorities said 13 families who live near the creek were evacuated to the barangay hall, but no one was reported hospitalized.

Rodolfo Santos, head of the Provincial Disaster Coordinating Office (PDCO), told The STAR that Gov. Joselito Mendoza has ordered his office, together with the provincial environment and health offices, to investigate the incident.

Santos said the chemicals discharged into the creek might drain into the Sta. Maria or Marilao River, which a foreign institute recently tagged as among the 30 dirtiest places in the world.

Oscar Cabanayan, Central Luzon head of the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB), said residents have blamed the incident on Cleveland, which maintains a plant treating industrial, toxic and hazardous waste in Barangay Tungkong Mangga, about 500 meters from Barangay Maharlika where many of the affected families reside. The plant has EMB accreditation.

The residents suspect that the plant discharged its effluents through a drainage canal that flows into the creek in Barangay Maharlika.

Cabanayan, however, said they have inspected Cleveland’s tanks and found them empty.

“We are conducting chemical tests and if (the chemical) matches that found in the creek, Cleveland will have a problem,” he said, adding that they are also checking the company’s chemical shipments.

Cabanayan said they are still unsure what chemical was discharged into the creek, but said it is volatile and most likely an acid-based industrial waste.

Last year, a similar incident happened in Marilao town when a tanker dumped hazardous waste into an irrigation canal, causing residents to have breathing problems.

In 2003, drums of toxic chemicals were dumped here, downing a number of young scavengers.