Davao landfill facing suspension

THE Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) on Thursday said the Davao City Sanitary Landfill is facing suspension after a trash slide left one dead and two others wounded.

In a statement, the DENR said the collapse, which occurred at 1:10 p.m. on Wednesday, followed days of heavy rains, limiting access to the site due to unstable ground conditions.

Search and rescue teams from the Bureau of Fire and Protection, 911 Urban Search and Rescue, the City Engineers Office, and village responders were deployed for the two missing persons.

The City Engineers Office also declared the area unsafe for full entry, temporary halting disposal operations.

“The DENR and the LGU (local government unit) have been working together on the technical and regulatory requirements for months,” Environment Secretary Juan Miguel T. Cuna was quoted as saying.

“This incident reinforces the need to accelerate slope stabilization and the safe closure plan.”

According to the DENR, close monitoring of the landfill started as early as January, with the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) in the Davao Region conducting technical meetings on Jan. 20 and March 4.

The EMB also issued a Notice of Violation on March 19 due to the landfill’s lack of a discharge permit. A technical conference followed on April 29, which resulted in the imposition of penalties upon the city.

The DENR added that the earlier inspections found steep slopes, a collapsed leachate pond and the presence of waste pickers and makeshift dwellings near the landfill perimeter.

This prompted the department to push for slope stabilization, partial closure, and relocation of households within the 200-meter buffer zone.

Mr. Cuna said that once the landfill is suspended, operations will not resume until the site is declared safe.

The landfill, which receives an average of 786 tons of waste per day, is nearing full capacity. — CAT