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Government scientists yesterday collected water samples from various locations in the Mactan Channel to determine the level of contamination in the busy Cebu waterway.
Jing Casino, a chemist at the Environment Management Bureau (EMB) of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in Central Visayas (DENR-7), said the water samples will be tested for fecal coliform, biological oxygen demand, chemical oxygen demand, acidity, temperature and suspended solids.
“We will also be getting water sample near the Umapad dumpsite to check how much leachate or fluids coming from the dumpsite has reached the Mactan Channel,” Casino said.
The testing stemmed from a petition from environmentalists that urged local government executives and government agencies to implement measures to clean up the Mactan Channel.
The measure was one of several filed during World Environment Day last June 5.
“We requested that water sampling be done at the Mactan Channel so that there would be available baseline data (on the status of the ecosystem at the site),” said environmental lawyer Gloria Estenzo-Ramos.
“We want to know if efforts to close the Umapad dumpsite would have an impact in cleaning up the area,” she added.
The Mandaue City government closed the Umapad dumpsite last June 5 in accordance with a law that prohibits the operation of all open dumpsites in the country.
The Umapad dumpsite lies close to the Mactan Channel, triggering concerns that leachate from the site may have reached the channel.
Estenzo-Ramos said the request to study pollution levels at the Mactan Channel was among the petitions sent last June 5 to the mayors of local government units that share borders with the channel.
Studies on the Mactan Channel are monitored by the Global Legal Action against Climate Change, a network of environmentalists and lawyers that aim to make sure the government agencies, local government units and public officials implement environmental laws.
Casino said the EMB will run several tests on the water samples from the channel.
Testing for the level of coliform bacteria in water is a common indicator for general sanitation.
Coliform bacteria are abundant in the feces of warm-blooded animals and can be found in aquatic environments, soil and vegetation.
