THE Marilao-Meycauayan-Obando River System has once again been identified -- this time as one of the four iconic rivers in the developing world. It is one disappointing identity as it joins Chao Phraya in Thailand, Yangtze in China and Neva in Russia as four rivers suffering from severe cases of industrial pollution.

Previously, the Blacksmith Institute had included the Bulacan river system as one of The Thirty Dirtiest Rivers in the World. Decades of pollution from various sources, including tanneries, gold and precious metal refineries, lead smelting, and several municipal waste dumps had caused the river system’s deterioration.

Monitoring programs of various research institutions had confirmed heavy metal levels exceeding surface water standards. Manganese, zinc, nickel and cadmium in groundwater samples exceeded Philippine Drinking Water Standards. River sediments demonstrated high levels of copper, nickel, mercury and lead, exceeding Washington State (U.S.) sediment standards.

Heavy metal contamination had been detected in shellfish and freshwater fish from the Marilao-Meycauayan-Obando River System, in some cases at levels in excess of limits for human consumption.

The DENR together with the government of Bulacan established the country’s first Water Quality Management Area (WQMA), covering the cleanup of the existing contamination and wastewater treatment for ongoing discharges. However, the plan contains very few concrete measures to prevent future contamination by not addressing the problem at source and by not eliminating the use of hazardous chemicals.

The only way to address the dangers in our water is through a preventative approach: taking action to phase-out the use and discharge of hazardous chemicals, rather than end-of-pipe treatment methods. Accordingly, we in Greenpeace are calling for a political commitment to ‘zero discharge’ (i.e. zero emissions in all pathways of release) of all hazardous chemicals within one generation, based on the precautionary principle and a preventative approach to chemicals management.

This commitment must be matched with an implementation plan containing a dynamic list of priority hazardous substances requiring immediate action, and a publicly available register of data about discharge emissions and losses of hazardous substances, such as a Pollutant Release and Transfer Register (PRTR).

Our message could not be clearer: should government expose our citizens and the environment to hazardous toxic pollution, and condemn future generations to pay for the management of contaminated sediments? Or should the government instead commit to a “Toxic-Free Future,” and take precautionary action to support truly sustainable innovation, and progressively eliminate the use of hazardous substances down to “zero discharge?”

To this end, Government must adopt:

First, a political commitment to ‘zero discharge’ all hazardous chemicals within one generation, based on the precautionary principle and a preventative approach to chemicals management.

Second, an implementation plan to:

* establish a dynamic priority hazardous chemical list, for immediate action;

* establish intermediate targets to meet the generation goal above; and

* establish a publicly available register of data about discharge, emissions and losses of hazardous chemicals.

Greenpeace highlights these difficult requirements on the Marilao-Meycauayan-Obando River System in “Hidden Consequences: The costs of industrial water pollution on people, planet and profit.”

The Hidden Consequences report may be accessed from this link: http://www.greenpeace.org/seasia/ph/What-we-do/Toxics/Water-Patrol/Hidden-Consequences.

For feedback, e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

Beau Baconguis is toxics campaigner of Greenpeace Southeast Asia.