The San Carlos Bionergy Inc. yesterday assured government officials that they will prevent further discharge of their waste water into the sea that has been blamed for a recent fish kill in San Carlos City.

The assurance was made at the meeting of a Multipartite Monitoring Team composed of representatives from the San Carlos City government, the ethanol plant and non-government organizations, lawyer Arthur Batomalaque, head of the Integrated Waste Management/Pollution Control Division of the San Carlos City Environment Management Office, said.

On March 11 a significant amount of fish died in the coastal areas of barangays 1,3 and 6 in San Carlos City, he said.

Fish that had been exposed to the foul-smelling waste water from the ethanol plant were seen gasping for breath before dying, Batomalaque said.

This prompted the immediate convening of a MMT meeting yesterday that was also attended by representatives of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources Environmental Management Bureau, he added.

The Environmental Compliance Certificate of the San Carlos Bionergy Inc. states that it should have zero waste discharge, he said.

“The representatives of the firm assured us that they will find a way to prevent the release of the waste water into the sea again,” Batomalaque said.

A DENR technical conference is also set to be conducted with the San Carlos Bionergy Inc. management, he added.

San Carlos fishermen and vendors had complained to Mayor Gerardo Valmayor about the foul odor and discoloration of the water that not only caused the fish to die, but affected its subsequent sale.

Not only the fish, but other marine life like crabs and shells, had been affected, the mayor said.*CPG

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