A sanitary landfill for Pangasinan

Just  when we thought the towns and cities in the province will forever be violating the Republic Act 9003, otherwise known as the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2006, with the continued operation of open dumpsites, the news about Bayambang seeking to construct a sanitary landfill is a like a breath of fresh air.

We had hoped that Dagupan City, the Dream City, would finally come around to make good its promise to construct one even after the purchase was marked by graft leaving city losing at least P9 million but it didn’t. From all indications, Dagupan City will no longer have its sanitary landfill.

The Bayambang municipal resolution justifying the construction of a sanitary landfill is in order but as one might have expected, the opposition to the project was instantaneous. After all, who wants to be designated the dumping ground for garbage? But this misimpression or ignorance should be taken in stride and the proponents must do all to illustrate to the oppositors that it is not what they think it is –  another  dumpsite.

 And it is important to point out that it is as much the provincial board’s duty to help establish a sanitary landfill. It must not simply act passively and wait for Bayambang officials to defend the project for it is incumbent upon the provincial government to look for the best alternative to comply with the law.

The World Bank has issued basic requirements for a sanitary landfill and compliance with these should help explain to the oppositors what a sanitary landfill is all about, and thereby forestall any unreasonable opposition to it. These are:

1. The designated area must be “full or partial hydrogeological isolation”. That if the site is not located on land which naturally contains leachate security, additional lining materials will be installed site to reduce leakage from the base of the site (leachate) and help reduce contamination of groundwater and surrounding soil. Leachate collection and treatment must be stressed as a basic requirement.

2.  Proof of formal engineering preparations must be presented. The design should be developed from local geological and hydrogeological investigations. A waste disposal plan and a final restoration plan should also be developed.

3.  Plans for management and permanent control must be defined particularly stressing that a trained staff will be based at the landfill to supervise site preparation and construction, the depositing of waste and the regular operation and maintenance.

4. Plans for the waste emplacement and covering must be explained, i.e., why the process adopts a particular system in spread wastes in layers and compacted, how wastes become less accessible to pests.

Yes, this is a job not only for the Bayambang officialdom but for the provincial board as well. What the provincial board should look into is that there is and will be no graft that will accompany the project, like it did in Dagupan City.

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