Fish kill in two Pampanga towns; Alcohol plant’s permit suspended

By Franco G. Regala

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO CITY, Pampanga – Apalit Mayor Peter Nucom on Monday issued a 30-day suspension against an alcohol fermentation plant, which residents said discharged waste water in the Pampanga River channel that resulted in a fishkill in the coastal waters of Macabebe and Masantol.

Nucom said he suspended Far Eastern Alcohol Corporation (Feaco) while an investigation on the matter is ongoing.

Last Wednesday, tons of dead fish, crabs, shrimps and other marine species were seen floating along the Pampanga River, which residents and fishermen said resembled a ‘bed of bubbles’.

A day earlier, three delivery tanks owned by the company allegedly dumped molasses which may have poisoned the fish and other creatures.

The municipal mayor said the 30-day suspension is only an initial action to the incident as the members of municipal council have yet to discuss other initiatives and actions in today’s meeting.

Earlier, the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) collected water samples for laboratory tests to find out what caused the fish in the river to die.

The agency has also yet to confirm if the incident was a fishkill as there were reports that some fishermen had caught many live fish in the affected areas.

The Masantol Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (MDRRMO) assured that the Feaco management has been coordinating with them since the incident was reported.

The MDRRMO also noted that the latest fish kill is not as massive as the one in 2015 which affected six towns in the province.