ENVIRONMENT Secretary Angelo Reyes
yesterday urged residents of Las Piñas to avoid drinking
groundwater after traces of the cancer-causing chemical
trichloroethylene (TCE) were found around the former
manufacturing plant of Philips Electronic and Lighting Inc.
The environment department also banned the
importation, sale and use of TCE.
The Philippines’ annual importation of TCE
stands at around two tons, according to Ely Anthony Ouano,
director of the DENR-Environmental Management Bureau.
Ouano said TCE is widely used as industrial
solvent to remove grease and oil in metal parts and textile
and as ingredient in adhesives, paint removers, typewriter
correction fluid, pepper sprays, pharmaceuticals and
insecticides,
He said exposure to TCE is associated with
headache, dizziness, increased risk of liver cancer and
increased possibility of miscarriage. It has also been
classified as "probable to produce human carcinogen."
"I urge the residents (in Las Piñas) to
stop drinking water extracted from the ground because of the
probability that the underground water around the (former)
Philips plant is contaminated," Reyes said in a press
conference.
Benjamin Reyes, business center head of
Maynilad Water Services Inc., assured residents the company it
will ensure adequate water supply through rationing.
Donough Foley, vice president for
commercial affairs of Philips Asia Pacific, said the company
stopped using TCE in 1994, a year before the plant was
transferred from Pamplona to Laguna.
Cleanup of the former plant site has been
going on since the transfer, he said.
Foley said a recent random testing showed
that 19 of 102 wells around the former site had traces of TCE.
Las Piñas Mayor Imelda Aguilar said among
the Pamplona areas that could be contaminated are Greenview
village and Manuela subdivision.
Foley said the contamination might not have
been caused by Philips alone. "We believe we’re not the only
source of TCE in the area," he said.
The EMB has taken 15 water samples from
three different locations in the area to determine the
presence of TCE. The samples were taken to the United States
for laboratory tests. The results are expected to arrive by
the end of next week.
Ouano said the EMB will also determine
which company was responsible for the contamination. The Clean
Water Act imposes a daily fine of up to P3 million.
While there have been no reported cases of
illness or death in the area, the DENR has teamed up with the
Department of Health to monitor the condition of residents.
Ouano said pending the results of the
laboratory tests, government agencies have yet to start the
cleanup of the traces of TCE.
He said TCE mixed with groundwater is degraded slowly
because of the absence of micro-organisms and sunlight.
– Reinir Padua
