Mayor denies bioethanol plant’s request to resume operations

By Dolly Yasa

 

BACOLOD City – Mayor Renato Y. Gustilo of San Carlos City, Negros Occidental rejected the plea of San Carlos Bioenergy, Inc. (SCBI) to resume its operations on Tuesday.

In the LGU official bulletin, Gustilo said he will not grant SCBI’s request unless they drain their ponds of spent wash.

The mayor said he inspected the plant’s wastewater storage Monday afternoon and saw their holding ponds full of said liquid waste which already spilled to the coastal area of the city.

Engr. Arthur Batomalaque, Senior Environment Management Specialist of the City Environment Management Office, said that the bioethanol plant has a 16-hectare pond that holds its 700 to 1,000 cubic meters of daily effluent.

He added that a representative of the SCBI has set another appointment with Mayor Gustilo today, February 23 to discuss the issue.

The SCBI, which started operation in 2008, is the first regenerative combined cycle power plant in Asia that uses sugar cane to produce 42 million liters of bioethanol per annum and 8 megawatts of electricity from sugar cane.

The plant was temporarily shut down on February 19, 2021. Gustilo had warned that he will recommend the issuance of a cease-and-desist order to the Environmental Management Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources if the plant fails to settle violations.