Bulacan LGU closes steel plant for allegedly violating environmental laws

Bulacan map. INQUIRER FILES

The local government of Sta. Maria, Bulacan has temporarily ceased the operations of a plant producing steel angle bars for allegedly violating local regulations and safety procedures.

In a suspension order dated Aug. 8, Mayor Bartolome Ramos said Hightension Industrial Corporation failed to secure a permit to operate from the Environmental Management Bureau; a building or occupancy permit from the town’s building official; and it did not file an annual income tax return for the year 2023.

“In connection to this, I hereby order to temporarily suspend your business operations effective immediately until compliance of deficient documents,” the mayor said.

“Please be reminded that failure to abide this order, the municipality may take legal action on this matter,” the local chief executive warned.

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A notice of closure was already placed on the plant’s gate, citing the company’s violations of the Revenue Code of Sta. Maria, the Environmental Impact Statement System, the National Building Code of the Philippines, the Sanitary Code of the Philippines, and the Real Property Tax Code.

The firm was the subject of a complaint filed by environmental group NGO SEEDS PH for allegedly running the facility without an updated environmental clearance certificate and permits to operate pollution-control facilities.

SEEDS PH earlier said the plant was manufacturing and selling “substandard angle bars using its obsolete and environmentally destructive induction furnace.”

The use of induction furnaces to melt metals has been controversial since China banned it due to environmental concerns in 2017.

Earlier last year, a town in Pampanga also prohibited the use of induction furnaces following reports of respiratory illnesses among residents.

SEEDS PH Secretary General Dona Cristino urged the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and Department of Trade and Industry to “take decisive actions against establishments that are operating without regard for the environment and the health of the public.”