Cement firm says crew behind spill not their employees

A cement manufacturing firm based in San Fernando, Cebu reminded their contractors that they have to adopt stringent measures to ensure that residual coal from their vessels won’t contaminate the waters near their plant.

In a statement yesterday, officials of Taiheiyo Cement Philippines Inc (TCPI) said they are committed to their stakeholders that their operations and those of their suppliers and contractors will follow procedures that will prevent harm to the environment.

TCPI also said that the cleaning crew who were behind the spill off are not employees of the plant but that of one of their contractors.

“TCPI has reminded the barge provider to be more prudent with routine cleaning operations of its barges, and adopt more stringent measures to ensure that its crew cleans up the cargo hold completely before flushing it,” the statement said.

The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) also issued a warning against TCPI’s contractors, especially those delivering coal to the plant by barge, that they could be sanc- tioned if they are repeatedly caught releasing residual coal into the sea.

Chief Petty Officer Marcelo Panaginip of the PCG City of Naga substation told reporters he met officials of TCPI yesterday to discuss what happened in Barangay Panadtaran.

Panaginip said that officials of the cement manufacturing firm have vowed to instruct their contractors to not throw their residual coal ash into the sea.

But Panaginip admitted that they were not able to identify the vessel behind the spill off of residual coal. /