Study says Sual power plant not causing water pollution

SUAL, Pangasinan – Recent monitoring activities conducted by water specialists on marine, groundwater and stream water around the Sual Coal-Fired Power Plant  show that water quality in the area continues to meet the standards set by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).

The monitoring activities were conducted by AECOM Philippines, Inc. from April 25-26 and July 17, 2017.

Sual Coal Power Plant runs by Team Energy in Sual, Pangasinan is the
 biggest power  plant in the country with its 1,218 megawatts energy.

AECOM Philippines, Inc. is a subsidiary of AECOM International, which is listed in Fortune Magazine’s 500 richest companies and has branches in 150 countries.

The report submitted to the DENR Central Office last November 17  said that “water quality samples were collected from previously established monitoring stations consisting of nine marine water quality monitoring stations in Baquioen Bay and Pao Bay, four stream water quality monitoring stations in Lugulog River, and four groundwater quality monitoring stations located in Sitio Bangayao, Sitio Salumagui and Sitio Lugulog in Barangay Pangascasan where the power plant is located, and in Sitio Calupani in Barangay Capantolan here.

The sampling techniques used to collect the water samples were based on three guidelines:

1.       DENR Administrative Order No. 1990-34 or the Revised Water Usage and Classification/Water Quality Criteria

2.       DENR Administrative Order No. 2016-08 or the Water Quality Guidelines and General Affluent Standards  of 2016

3.       Australian/New Zealand Standard Quality Sampling Guidance: AS/NZS 5667:1998 (ISO Certificate 5667 1, 6,9 and 11)

AECOM Philippines has been conducting the water quality monitoring activities since year 2000, two times a year – one in the dry season and another during the rainy season.

The water parameters used for the Sual power plant surface and groundwater quality monitoring program include temperature, pH level, dissolved oxygen, total suspected solid (TSS),  biological oxygen demand (BOD), chemical oxygen demand (COD), phosphates, hexavalent chromium, dissolved copper, total metals such as lead, manganese, cadmium, arsenic, iron, zinc, mercury; and oil and grease.

In the report submitted by AECOM Philippines to the DENR, results of its monitoring program showed that all the water parameters were within the normal levels and met the criteria under the DENR Administrative Orders 1990-35 and 2016-08.

                                                                Optimistic

Mayor Roberto Arcinue, who was given a copy of the report,  hailed the results of the water quality monitoring program as a “monumental victory for the people of Sual” and the municipal government who have opened its doors for well-meaning investors.

He said the monitoring report of AECOM Philippines belies the claim of the Save Sual Movement that the Sual Power Plant is causing environmental pollution.

“It is the other way around, that the Save Sual Movement is the one polluting the hearts and minds of our people with their distortion of facts, baseless claims, and lies,” Arcinue said.

In welcoming the monitoring report, the mayor expressed optimism for the realization of another coal-fired power plant that a South Korean-based company is planning to put up here.

The new coal-fired power plant worth about two billion US dollars and with a generating capacity of 1,000 megawatts, would be using ultra-supercritical technology that considerably reduces emissions and pollution, he said.

“The progress and development of Sual are now unstoppable. Imagine the thousands of jobs and the billions of revenues to be generated by the second power plant,” Arcinue stressed.

This local government unit  (LGU) has jumped from fifth class to first class municipality after the operation of the first coal-fired power plant, and the LGU is consistently occupied the fourth place in the list of top ten riches municipalities in the country.

With the revenues to be collected from the second power plant, the mayor is very optimistic that this burgeouning town could be catapulted to the top of the list.