An environmental group in Palawan has expressed concern over the levels of a toxic pollutant found in the waste water discharged by the Malampaya Deepwater Gas-to-Power Project.
In his letter, Chan highlighted two separate readings showing phenol concentration levels in Malampaya’s open drain caisson (ODC) at 72.32 mg/L and 48.66 mg/L.
Pamintuan, an environment scientist and a mining and petroleum engineer, said that Malampaya produces a small amount of waste water every time natural gas and oil are combined.
The level of phenol concentration [in the sea] will go down because of the volume of the water,” said Pamintuan.
According to Chan, the PSMT aims to monitor all of the Malampaya project’s environmental effects.
“His letter was transmitted to the Environmental Management Bureau with an accompanying PCSD letter asking their action on Palawan Sectoral Monitoring team’s recommendation for issuance of notice of violation to SPEX (Shell Philippines Exploration) on account on phenol exceedances,” former PSMT team leader and current PCSD staff member Josephine Matulac told GMA News Online in a text message.
Matulac added that past lab analyses showed that there was a time that phenol concentrations from the Malampaya project “spiked” up to 200 mg/L.
She added that damage to fish depends on the phenol concentration level and the life stage of the fish.