Group formed to assess BC mine site for Baguio trash

BAGUIO CITY  -  Mayor Mauricio Domogan formally signed Administrative Order No. 083, series of 2016; creating the Technical Working Group (TWG) to evaluate Benguet Corporation’s Antamok open pit  site as potential area for establishment of the city’s Integrated Solid Waste Disposal Facility.

BC offered the city government of Baguio as open pit site at Antamok for its engineered sanitary landfill or integrated solid waste disposal facility for use of the city government here and nearby towns of Benguet to resolve garbage disposal problems.

Domogan  said under the planned integrated solid waste disposal facility, the city government will be putting up a centralized material recovery facility (MRF), an anaerobic digester, a waste-to-energy plant, and environmental recycling system (ERS) machines, an engineered sanitary landfill, health care and medical waste treatment plant and special waste treatment plant.

General services officer Romeo Concio will chair the said TWG with his members city engineer Elpidio Garabiles, city planning and development officer Evelyn Cayat, the regional director or representative from the Environmental Management Bureau-Cordillera and Mines and Geosciences Bureau-Cordillera, representative from the National Solid Waste Management Commission and Benguet Corporation.

The TWG will conduct the assessment and evaluation of the Benguet Corporation’s Antamok open pit site to determine whether or not it will pass the standards in putting up the city’s integrated solid waste management facility.

Said TWG will then submit to the city mayor its findings and recommendations. 

 “The final results of the assessment and evaluation of the Benguet Corporation’s open pit site will serve as the basis of the city solid waste management board to partially amend its 10-year solid waste management plan that was approved by the NSWMC, specifically on the site on where to put up the facility, in order for the concerned offices to finalize existing plans and programs for the eventual realization of the project,” said Domogan.

The previous plan in putting up the ISWDF within the 139-hectare Sto. Tomas School area did not materialize because of the excessive development cost in just building the access roads to the site and at the same time occurrence of some issues and conflicts on land claims, thus, the city officials considered the offer of the Benguet Corporation to use its open pit site at Antamok for solid waste disposal facility. 

At present, more or less 130 tons of the generated residual wastes of the city are being shipped out daily by the city’s hauler to the sanitary landfill in Capas, Tarlac.  Also, the city’s biodegradable wastes are being converted into compost fertilizer and the recyclable wastes are being taken by the volunteers of the city.  -- Jho Arranz