Illegal sewage lines in Panglao to be dug up

CEBU CITY – A team from the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) used Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) to uncover buried waste pipelines along beachfronts in Panglao Island, Bohol.

DENR Executive Director for Central Visayas Gilbert Gonzales said that using GPR, the team had identified at least 70 pipelines in Boracay, Aklan. “We hope to do the same here in Panglao,” Gonzales said.

The team, led by Supervising Science Research Specialist Lisa Socorro Manzano, was deployed to monitor water quality and enforce compliance to environmental management requirements in Panglao.

“The MGB uses the GPR device to help us detect groundwater movement and helps us to find buried pipelines used by establishments to illegally discharge untreated waste water into Panglao’s coastal waters,” Gonzales added.

The GPR survey results will be forwarded to the regional Environment Management Board for further verification and eventual actual inspection.

The resort island’s foreshore areas are being cleaned up. Recently, water samples from a beach in Panglao revealed high levels of coliform, a bacteria that could indicate the presence of harmful, disease-causing organisms.

Once the results are verified, the DENR will dig up the detected illegal pipelines and hold the establishments that laid the pipes accountable, Gonzales added.