DENR halts operations at Rizal landfill after fatal trash slide

THE Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has issued a cease-and-desist order (CDO) against Green Leap Solid Waste Management, Inc.’s sanitary landfill in Rizal, following a trash slide on Feb. 20 that left one person dead and two others missing.

In a statement on Tuesday, the DENR said the CDO covers the six-hectare Phase 5 of the landfill facility in Barangay San Isidro in Rodriguez town.

The department said an initial investigation found that around 420,000 cubic meters of waste eroded from the active tipping area, burying three units of heavy equipment.

A follow-up inspection on Feb. 23 cited several operational lapses, including erosion at the active tipping area, foul odor from exposed waste, and a visible crack on an adjacent waste bench that could trigger further collapse.

The Environmental Management Bureau’s office in Calabarzon also documented multiple violations of the conditions under the company’s Environmental Compliance Certificate.

The DENR said all landfill operations in Phase 5 are immediately suspended, except for emergency and remedial measures such as retrieval operations, slope stabilization, debris clearing, and installation of engineering controls to prevent further erosion.

A strict no-entry policy has also been imposed in the affected area to ensure public safety and avoid disruption of rescue and rehabilitation efforts.

“Our priority is to ensure the immediate stabilization of the site to prevent further environmental degradation and to hold the proponent strictly accountable for these operational lapses,” DENR Calabarzon Regional Executive Director Nilo B. Tamoria was quoted as saying in the statement.

Green Leap Solid Waste Management, Inc. has been directed to submit a detailed report within five days and to present its corrective measures at a technical conference set for Feb. 25. — Vonn Andrei E. Villamiel