In a letter, Governor dela Cruz conveyed the support of her administration for the position taken by the Ecowaste Coalition against the questionable grant of an environmental compliance certificate (ECC) by the Region 3 office of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to Waste Custodial Management for the establishment of an 18-hectare landfill at Sitio Tiacad, Barangay San Mateo, Norzagaray.

It was recalled that 18 groups belonging to the Ecowaste Coalition had earlier written a letter to Governor Dela Cruz and the Bulacan provincial board in connection with to the landfill project.

Governor Dela Cruz and the environmental groups scored the company’s failure to obtain an ECC before undertaking site preparation in violation of Section 38, Article 6 of Republic Act 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2002, which requires ECC to be secured first before any site preparation and construction of a new waste facility.

The Bulacan provincial government echoed the groups’ concerns about the landfill’s danger to the environment, which is situated near the Ipo Dam and, as stated by by the Laguna Lake Development Authority, is a watershed.

RA 9003 prohibits the construction or operation of landfill facilities or any waste-disposal facility on any aquifer, groundwater reservoir or watershed.

"The last thing the Bulakenos and the residents of Metro Manila want is leachate seeping into the reservoir which is the primary source of Metro Manila’s drinking water," the governor said.

Landfill facilities, the Ecowaste Coalition said, produce toxic garbage liquid or leachate that can contaminate groundwater or surfacewater supplies with chemical pollutants such as heavy metals.

Even with a liner, landfill facilities will eventually leak and threaten the water supply. The coalition said that landfill facilties generate large quantities of methane, a major contributor to the "greenhouse effect," which is causing climate change.

Bulacan provincial officials assailed the lack of briefing on the details of the project, and noted the contractor’s lack of track record in the operations of sanitary landfill. (Vhioly Rosatazo)