Philex Mines to resume full operations; pays P188.6 M fine over dam waste spill

By Redjie Melvic Cawis

TUBA, Benguet, June --Philex Mining Corporation is set to  resume full operations after the mining firm paid P188.6 million to the Pollution Adjudication Board (PAB)  as part of  its  environmental obligation to the government in line with 2012 tailings dam leak accident at its Padcal mine site in Benguet.

Philex officials led by its chairman, businessman Manuel Pangilinan, paid on June 6  the full amount to the PAB which are fines covering violations of Republic Act  9275 or the Philippine Clean Water Act of 2004 for the discharge of nontoxic water and sediment from Padcal’s Tailings Storage Facility No. 3 to  several bodies of water particularly to the Ballog Creek and Agno River.

In a five-page resolution, the PAB stressed that all the effluent and water samples collected from Balog Creek and Agno River on March 14-15, 2013 by the Joint Multipartite Monitoring Team (JMMT),were  analyzed for heavy metals and total suspended solids were within the water quality criteria required by government.

This also confirmed the testing conducted on October 18, 2012 by the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) - Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR)  in Baguio City.

The resolution also  noted  that Philex Mining had implemented rehabilitation works and cleanup activities along Balog Creek between September 29, 2012 and March 7, 2013, as shown in a report submitted by the EMB-CAR, which the PAB earlier directed to conduct a bi-monthly monitoring in coordination with the Mines and Geosciences Bureau.

“After a thorough review of the recommendation of the Board, applicable legal principles as well as the arguments advanced by Philex Mines in its motion for reconsideration, the undersigned deems it just to partially reconsider the original Order,” the PAB said in a five-page order signed by its presiding officer, Environment Undersecretary Demetrio Ignacio, Jr.

 PAB, a quasi-judicial body, extended indefinitely in its July 5, 2013 decision the lifting of a cease-and-desist order  it served to Philex Mining’s Padcal operations on Nov. 28, 2012.

Meanwhile in a statement from Philex Mining CEO and President Eulalio Austin, Jr., “We’ve always expressed our commitment to abide by government rules, including on environmental protection, for our smooth operations and continued service to our country and to all our other stakeholders.”

On February 26, 2013, the MGB-DENR received payment amounting to P1.034 billion from Philex officials as payment for damages resulting from the mine tailings leakage.

The payment of the penalty imposed by the MGB gave the go signal to resume operations after the mining firm as it shares government’s concern to protect the environment.