Tuesday, November 23, 2010

RE: COAL PLANT ODOR

Fr Celiz: Don’t be alarmed; Fr Cuadras: Shut it down

By Francis Allan L. Angelo

A CATHOLIC priest and member of the multi-partite monitoring team (MMT) assuaged fears caused by the odor that was again blamed on the coal-fired power plant at Brgy. Ingore, LaPaz, Iloilo City.

Fr. Espiridion “Boy” Celiz of Mandurriao parish said the MMT went to Ingore to monitor the testing of the plant which started since Saturday.

Celiz said while odor was reported in some areas around the plant, residents should not fear because the facility is still in its early testing phase.

Asked to rate the odor they detected around the plant from 1 (lowest) to 10 (highest), Celiz said the odor is a negligible 1.

Celiz said the contractor and management of the plant will have to employ measures that will address the odor which is being blamed on the facility.

Celiz statements came in the heels of a complaint letter sent by fellow priest, Fr. Renato Cuadras of LaPaz parish to Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog regarding the odor which he claimed caused him discomfort.

Cuadras urged the mayor to stop the plant from opening and operating because of the odor.

Mayor Mabilog said Engr. Noel Hechanova, community environment and natural resources officer and MMT member, informed him that the MMT was present in the plant during the test.

Mabilog said he will require Hechanova to submit a report on the testing “so we can base our next actions (on the report).”

Mabilog said if the odor is harmful to the people, the plant’s management should adopt measures to prevent such incident from happening again.

The mayor said experts should also be present to assess the plant’s testing and its effects on the public.

Incomplete Combustion

The coal plant, which is still under the responsibility of Formosa Heavy Industries, Inc., contractor of Global Business Power Corp., is seen as the city’s hope against rotating brownouts which last for more than two hours daily for several months now.

Panay Electric Company, lone power distributor in the city, blamed the brownouts to acute power shortage.

GBPC’s Assistant Vice President Adrian Moncada said no coal is used in the series of tests at the plant. “The plant is still on testing and commissioning phase that is why diesel is being used as fuel.”

Moncada, a mechanical engineer by profession, said that the odor may be traced to the incomplete combustion of diesel “but this is still being investigated thoroughly”.

Moncada said that “once the plant shifts to coal next week we expect no more foul odor.”

He clarified that the foul odor monitored during the test run on Saturday and yesterday “was not as foul as some sectors would like us to believe”. “We were exposed to the same odor but it was tolerable…it was not that offensive.”

He assured that since the source of the odor has been identified, “we assure the public that we will apply remedial measures to mitigate it.”

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