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Greenpeace, an international group of environment activists, warned that coal ash was “very toxic”, and urged the Cebu provincial government to reconsider its plan to set up a facility for dumping the waste in a Naga City beach front property.
In a letter to Gov. Gwen Garcia and other Capitol officials, Greenpeace cited “grave health and environmental risks” to coastal communities with the province's recent agreement with Korean Electric Corp. (Kepco) to allow the firm in the future to dump coal ash from power plants it is constructing in Naga.
The site, the 25-hectare Balili resort property purchased last year by the province, is the subject of a pending inquiry by the Visayas Ombudsman.
“Perhaps the provincial government is not aware of the external costs of using coal,” wrote Amalie Conchelle C. Hamoy-Obusan, Greenpeace Southeast Asia climate and energy campaigner, who enclosed a copy of a 2009 Greenpeace report “The True Cost of Coal”.
“While coal might be comparatively cheap in the marketplace, in reality, the cost of coal is far too high because it is the communities that live near and around these (coal-fired power) plants that ultimately suffer the negative impacts from the use of coal.”
The letter, sent last week, listed toxic substances like arsenic, lead, boron, cadmium and cobalt as pollutants found in coal ash and explained the hazards of each.
Lead, for example, is a heavy metal whose poisonous effects in the central nervous system are well known and has “no safe blood level”.
“That there are two coal-fired power plants in Cebu is bad enough. But for the government to agree to a $1 million deal for Kepco to dump ash, hindi yata katanggap-tanggap yan (that is unacceptable),” Hamoy-Obusan told Cebu Daily News.
In her letter, she also cited a May 2009 report by the Environmental Integrity Project and the Earth Justice about the human and ecological risk of coal combustion wastes.
The report says that “Living near ash ponds increases the risk of damage to the liver, kidney, lungs and other organs as a result of being exposed to toxic metals like cadmium, cobalt, lead and other pollutants at concentrations far above levels that are considered safe.”
The Cebu provincial government last July 3 signed a Memorandum of Agreement with Kepco for potential revenue of P48 million or $1 million from the coal ash arrangement.
For each ton of ash dumped by Kepco, the province will be paid $1.
The agreement allows Kepco to dump coal ash from the operation of its 200-megawatt power plant being built in Naga City. The power plant is due for completion in January 2011.
The land classification and titling of the the Balili resort land bought by Cebu province last year is being questioned by Cebu environmental lawyers who wrote the Capitol last week asking for copies of the Kepco MOA and the land purchase.
The lawyers - Benjamin Cabrido, Dante Ramos and Gloria Estenzo-Ramos - asked for a copy of the Environmental Compliance Certificate or ECC for the project, a copy of the Deed of Sale and a copy of the Statements of Income and Expenditures of the province for the past three years.
The lawyers also asked the Office of the Ombudsman of the Visayas to look into the ash dumping deal, calling it an “extremely hazardous project, considering that coal ash has radioactive elements and contain hazardous substances harmful to living things and the ecosystem, such as mercury, lead, arsenic, among others.”
Greenpeace said the MOA could also be a violation of an international treaty particularly the World Ocean Conference's Manado Declaration of which the Philippines is a signatory.
“The Manado declaration was signed by different heads of state in Manado, Indonesia wherein it was recognized that maintaining coastal waters is important in the fight against climate change. So, we should safeguard coastal waters especially here in the Philippines wherein our food basket is our coastal resources,” Obusan said.
“Cebu relies on tourism (for its income) and the people rely heavily on coastal resources,” she added.
Obusan also said the Cebu provincial government should acknowledge its role in addressing climate change.
In the Greenpeace study, True Coast of Coal, coal is defined as “the most polluting energy source around and the dominant source of the world's carbon dioxide emissions.”
“Across the planet, 11 billion cubic tons of carbon dioxide come from coal-fired power generation every year. In 2005, this made up just about 41 percent of all fossil-fuel carbon dioxide emissions,” the study stated.
Climate change or global warming is an increase in the average temperature of near-surface are and the oceans and the effects include drought, flooding and rising sea levels.
“The government should have national strategies to sustainable management of coastal and marine ecosystems, in particular mangrove, wetland, seagrass, estuary and coral reef and to strive to reduce pollution of ocean, coastal and land areas and to promote sustainable management of fisheries,” she said.
“Greenpeace demands that the provincial government of Cebu safeguard the future of its people and leave coal behind. The cost to the climate, the environment and the people is much too high,” she added.
Obusan also urged the government to seek alternative sources of power “one powered by clean, sustainable energy solutions that will protect the climate, health and environment now and for generations.”
Greenpeace advocates the use of alternative and renewable sources of energy from natural resources. This includes solar power, biomass energy and hydroelectricity.
