Coal plant’s ambient air within standards

By Tara Yap

THE ambient air quality within several villages surrounding the 164-megawatt coal-fired power plant in Ingore, La Paz, Iloilo City is normal.

This is according to result of the third party monitoring team, which conducted the air test during the coal plant’s retesting last October 14-16.

While the multipartite monitoring team (MMT) will not release the official results from the third party monitoring team, MMT member and Community Environment and Natural Resources office chief for Iloilo City Bernabe H. Garnace confirmed that the air quality is normal.

“So far, the report revealed that the ambient quality at the time of testing were well within the standards of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR),” Garnace said.

“Nitrogen dioxide (NO2), sulfur dioxide (SO2), and total suspended solids (TSS) are all normal,” Garnace noted.

However, Garnace said that noise level data were slightly over the standard decibel during the time of testing.

“The results do not necessarily remain the same after the testing,” Garnace said.

Garnace assured that the MMT will publicly release its recommendation once it has thoroughly reviewed the results.