Asian Energy Advisors

Here is an Environmental Assessment Report on Masinloc released by ADB dated November 2007. There is some nice, concise information on the plant.

But you have to wonder at Napocor’s operation of this asset. Listed below are some selected findings regarding environmental issues that AES, I presume, will be obligated to address.

This points out why many people see coal plants as complicated and environmentally dangerous places - owners/operators (even when owned by our own government) often do not construct, maintain, and operate the facilities even to the standards that have been agreed upon.

Coal, for better or for worse, is expected to have a large role in the Philippine power sector over the coming years. We need to have confidence in our coal plant operators. The public sector needs to proactively, as Ronald Reagan would put it, “trust but verify.”

• Currently, the ESPs and continuous emission monitoring systems (CEMs) are not functioning as designed. Air emissions exceed standards for particulate matter established by EMB-DENR, which represents a health hazard both to workers and to residents in the surrounding areas.
• The wastewater treatment plant used for process water is not currently operational due to a lack of maintenance. Thus, untreated wastewater is being discharged directly into Oyon Bay.
• Storm water discharges exceed Philippine effluent discharge standards for oil and grease, and chemical oxygen demand. This is probably the result of a combination of factors including poor waste and chemical handling practices and storage arrangements
• According to the environmental compliance certificate update of December 2001, the [ash] disposal area was constructed with an impervious lining. However, drawings indicate that the installed lining system does not cover the entire ash disposal area.
• Other engineering controls such as access roads and surface water controls are inadequate, rendering areas of the ash disposal area waterlogged and inaccessible. The ash disposal area has not been managed appropriately, and ash materials have been dumped in a haphazard manner, e.g., along haul roads and around the ash disposal area.
• Coal and ash have found their way into the Masinloc and Oyon Bays through the storm drainage channels.
• The inappropriate storage and handling of chemicals and wastes could have resulted in contaminated soil and groundwater. Depending on the nature and extent of such contamination, remedial action may be required to safeguard human health and ecologically sensitive receivers including Oyon Bay.