Executive Summary 2011

REGION XII 2011 STATE OF THE BROWN ENVIRONMENT REPORT EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Department of Environment and Natural Resources Environmental Management Bureau Region XII City of Koronadal April 2012 Executive Summary This 2011 Region XII State of the Brown Environment Report is the culmination of the efforts of the DENR-Environmental Manage ment Bureau XII. It was prepared following the guidelines for the preparation of harmonized regional state of brown environment report. This report is a review of the state of the quality of air, water, solid wastes, toxic chemicals and hazardous wastes, environmental impact assessment and environmental education in the region. It relates the existing issues and concerns on our environment and hopes to give rec ommendations to address environmental issues in improving the environment. Air Quality. There are three identified major sources of air pollution namely: mobile sources, stationary sources and area sources. Mobile sources include both on-road vehicles and non-road sources. On -road vehicles such as cars, jeepneys, trucks, and buses, are dominant in the region especially on continuously progressing cities of Koronadal, Cotabato, Kidapawan, and General Santos. Non-road sources such as non-road vehicles and offroad equipment (which include ships, airplanes, and agricultural and construction equipment) are also present in the region. Stationary sources are defined as those that emit 10 tons per year or more of any of the criteria pollutants or hazardous air pollutants or 25 tons per year or more of a mixture of air toxics. These sources of pollution emit pollutants in the form of suspended particulate matter, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, oxides of nitrogen, oxides of sulfur and others. Area sources refer to those that emit less than 10 tons per year of a criteria or hazardous air pollutant or less that 25 tons per year of a combination of pollutants. Emission inventory conducted by the EMB Region XII showed that there was an increased particulate matter less than 10 microns in diameter (PM 10 ) in area sources with the amount of 25.13 tons/hr, fol- lowed by stationary with 13.0 tons/hr and mobile source with 3.7 tons/ hr. Stationary sources had produced 4.12 tons/hour of sulfur dioxide (SO 2). Emissions of nitrogen oxide (NO 2) were taken from stationary and mobile sources with 53.3 tons/hr and 20.2 tons/hr respectively. Carbon monoxide (CO) emissions were also formed from stationary sources with 13.7 tons/hr and mobile sources with 126.3 tons/hr. These imply that these harmful gases and particles are present in the region and may re sult to increased health risk to an individual and community, if not ad- xv Region XII 2011 State of the Brown Environment Report dressed properly. Under the Bantay Tsimneya Program, which involves the issuance of Permit to Operate for Air (POA) Pollution Source and Control Equip- ment, surveillance of firms/industries without Permit to Operate, monitoring of firms/industries with Permit to Operate, and conduct of stack sampling, a total of 139 firms were monitored for CY 2011. Unscheduled visits were also done to observe actual practices made within each firm/ industry. There were 15 stack sampling tests conducted and 15 sam- ples collected. EMB XII also issued a total of 24 Notice of Violations in the said year. EMB XII established and maintained three major ambient air monitoring stations, specifically located within the municipal halls and commercial/ industrial centers, and these are: Station 1 (Tupi, South Cotabato); Station 2 (Koronadal City); and Station 3 (Midsayap, Cotabato Province). The average annual readings for 2011 of Total Suspended Particulates (TSP) for the three (3) stations were within 52.1-71.2 µg/NCM categorized as “Good”, according to DENR Air Quality Indices. Under the Bantay Usok/Tambutso Program, collaborative activities were performed by EMB XII, together with the Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC)-Land Transportation Office (LTO) XII and local government units (LGUs), to include actual emission testing of roadside vehicles and monitoring of Private Emission Testing Centers (PETCs). They had had activated and maintained one (1) Anti- Smoke Belching Unit (ASBU). For 2011, out of 31 roadside vehicles tested, two (2) failed the test. A total of 47 government vehicles were also submitted for emission testing, each produced an average Har- tridge System Unit (HSU) lower than 66%. This implies that government vehicles are regularly tuned-up or repaired to comply with emis sion standards. PETCs were also monitored in terms of machines used and cali- bration done, conducted in collaboration with LTO XII and Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) XII. A total of 25 PETCs were monitored in the provinces of South Cotabato, North Cota- bato, Sarangani, and Sultan Kudarat. Two airsheds are designated and its governing boards are active in Region XII. These are North Cotabato Geothermal Airshed and South xvi Region XII 2011 State of the Brown Environment Report Cotabato Airshed. Both governing boards have achieved notable accom- plishments including among others attendance to meetings, capacity building, formulation of house rules, and implementation of actions plans. Water Quality. The Region has 21 principal rivers, mostly located in Cotabato, except for the Allah River in South Cotabato and Sul- tan Kudarat, and Siguel River discharging into Sarangani Bay. EMB XII has identified 19 minor rivers and creeks, 12 lakes, and 3 coastal and marine waters. The Lake Sebu in South Cotabato and the Sarangani Bay in Sarangani and General Santos City are declared as protected water bodies. As of 2011, EMB has classified 34 water bodies, comprising of 21 principal rivers, 10 minor rivers, 2 bays and 1 lake. Nine of the classified water bodies are Class A. Of the nine, four are located in Sarangani (Kalaong, Lun Masla, Lun Padidu, and Siguel Rivers), four are in Cotabato (Arakan, Kulaman, upstream of Malaang and Saguing Rivers), and one in Sultan Kudarat (Kraan River). Thirteen (13) are Class B, Six (6) are in Cotabato; while the rest are in General Santos, South Cotabato, and Sultan Kudarat. Twelve(12) are Class C, which include the three classified principal rivers: Libungan, Allah Valley, Malasila, Rio Grande de Min- danao Rivers and one lake: Lake Sebu. Three are Class D and include the Nuangan, and Pulangi Rivers in Cotabato. One is SB, which include portion of the Sarangani Bay. Two are Class SC that are com- pri sed o f Sarangani and Illana Bays. No water body is classified as Class AA, SA, and SD. EMB XII conducts water quality monitoring for selected water bodies on a regular basis. In 2011, it monitored 9 water bodies, namely: Libungan River, Sinawal River, M’lang River, Silway River WQMA, Sarangani Bay WQMA, Buayan River, Tinagacan River, Lake Sebu, and Sarangani Bay 2. In the region, there are two (2) Water Quality Management Areas (WQMAs) designated, the Sarangani Bay and Silway River WQMAs. These two established WQMA projects were made possible through the assistance of The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Tech- nical Assistance Team of Japan and the World Bank-Sustainable Sani- tation for South East Asia (SuSEA) in terms of funding and other logis tics. Another function of the Office is the enforcement of DENR Efflu- ent Standards to industries, hospitals and commercial establishments. In implementing this standard, most industries/establishments were xvii Region XII 2011 State of the Brown Environment Report able to meet the standards because they upgraded as well as employ technology on their Waste Water Treatment Facilities (WWTF). Solid Waste Management. In the region, the problem on gar- bage is most noticeable in cities and other urban municipalities, obvi- ously due to the concentration of people in these areas. Open dumps being operated by cities and urban municipalities are mostly located in natural gullies, which pose dangers of contaminating downstream water bodies and underground water reservoirs. The burning of dumped wastes also contaminates the ambient air quality of the areas surround- ing these dump sites. One noticeable impact of open dumps is the al- teration of the aesthetic view of the area. Two (2) categorized Sanitary Landfills (SLFs) are already operating in the region and one (1) Cluster Categorized Sanitary Landfill designed to cater to the residual wastes of six (6) municipalities is nearing its completion. Also several other LGUs are already in the process of com- pleting the Detailed Engineering Design for their proposed Sanitary Landfills and were already issued Environmental Compliance Certifi- cates (ECCs). Majority of the wastes generated by cities and first class municipalities are derived from commercial activities. In 2008, the USAID Eco Gov 2 Program extended technical assistance for the conduct of series of studies regarding the solid waste generation of various sectors. Based on these studies, solid wastes generated in the region consist of the following types: 73.68 percent are biodegradables/compostables, 18.93 percent are recyclables, 6.89 percent are residual wastes and 0.5 percent are special wastes. Republic Act 9003 (Ecological Solid Waste Management Act) pro- vides for the closure of all open and controlled disposal facilities. In the region, there were 42 LGUs who have Safe Closure and Rehabilitation Plans submitted. Two chartered cities (General Santos City and Cota- bato City) with significantly large open dump sites failed to submit their closure plans for varied reasons. Six municipalities, namely: Makilala, Esperanza, Pres. Quirino, Sen. Ninoy Aquino, Lutayan and Columbio also failed to submit their SCRPs. Many LGUs already have operational Materials Recovery Facilities (MRFs) and composting facilities. In the Region, there are 107 MRFs, or an equivalent of 8.88 percent regionwide. Toxic Chemicals and Hazardous Wastes Management.

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