DENR orders permanent closure of old Davao landfill

UNSAFE SLOPE A view of the sanitary landfill in Barangay New Carmen, Davao City, where a massive waste mound collapsed on Wednesday, May 20, triggering a trash slide that left one dead, two injured and two missing. —SCREENGRAB FROM RMN-DXDC VIDEO

DAVAO CITY—The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), through the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) in the Davao Region, on Friday ordered the permanent closure of the old sanitary landfill in Barangay New Carmen here, as a new garbage disposal site has become available to handle the city’s estimated 750 tons of waste per day.

The DENR said no further dumping operations would be allowed at the existing landfill. Operations at the site had been temporarily suspended on May 21, a day after a mountain of garbage collapsed and buried 15 houses in a nearby community, resulting in two deaths, two injuries, and one person still missing.

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READ: Davao City garbage woes worsen amid landfill closure

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Prior to the trash slide, the environment agency had already cited the city government for several violations of landfill regulations.

The suspension led to a worsening garbage crisis in this city of nearly two million people and sparked a controversy between the agency and Mayor Sebastian Duterte after he identified the DENR regional office in Lanang District as a garbage collection point.

“To avert public health and environmental risks from citywide garbage accumulation, waste disposal services are being seamlessly transitioned to an operational ‘interim cell’ within the designated portion of the new sanitary landfill,” the DENR said in a statement.

Structurally ready

As of Thursday, the interim cell “is complete and structurally ready to receive waste,” the agency added.

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The interim cell forms part of the new sanitary landfill being developed by the city government.

With the permanent closure of the old landfill, only activities related to “critical mitigation and rehabilitation works” will be allowed at the site, according to the DENR.

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The city government has been given 30 days to submit a safe closure and rehabilitation plan for the old landfill. The plan will be implemented under the agency’s strict monitoring “to ensure long-term public safety and environmental sustainability.”

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