Greenpeace wants full disclosure on industrial pollutions

Greenpeace on Saturday called on the
Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) for a full
public disclosure of industrial discharges into freshwater sources,
citing the dangers posed by toxic effluents and the public’s right to
know the composition of such discharges into water bodies like the
Laguna de Bay.

Greenpeace made the call on the occasion of the International Coastal
Clean-up day, as it joined hundreds of youth from Laguna Province in
cleaning up the shores of Calamba.

Running priest Fr. Robert Reyes also joined the group in the clean up.

In this third year of Greenpeace’s collaboration with the Laguna Youth
Development Affairs Office (YDA), the Laguna youth picked up and
segregated garbage from the shore, while Greenpeace volunteers on
brightly-coloured rubber boats and kayaks picked up garbage from the
water.

The Greenpeace boats also unfurled a banner saying, “WHAT LIES
BENEATH? OUR WATERS, OUR RIGHT TO KNOW!” Beau Baconguis, Toxics
Campaigner of Greenpeace Southeast Asia, said that the message was
meant to highlight the unseen threats.

“We want to point to the fact that there is a kind of pollution that
may be invisible to the eye, but may prove to be bigger hazards.
Unfortunately, pollution information is not made available to the
public. Therefore, they are unable to protect themselves,” Baconguis
said.

Greenpeace recommends the setting up of a pollution disclosure system,
such as a Pollutant Release and Transfer Register (PRTR), as a tool to
empower the public and help curb pollution.

A PRTR would provide the people with a database system from which they
could check the health of water sources and identify hot spots.

The system would provide industries with a comprehensive measurement
to check, compare and improve their processes, and make their
businesses more viable.

Posted in: Industrial pollutions