Submit response plans, landfill operators told
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) ordered all sanitary landfill operators to submit contingency plans outlining emergency response measures two weeks after a landfill fire broke out in Navotas City.
In a memorandum dated April 22 and made public on Sunday, the agency’s Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) directed its regional offices to require all sanitary landfill operators to submit contingency plans covering fire and other emergency incidents within 15 calendar days.
The move seeks to ensure that there is “adequate” response to concerns regarding the “rising heat index and the prevalence of fire incidents in [sanitary landfills] and dumpsites,” according to the document issued by EMB Director Jacqueline Caancan.
On April 10, a fire broke out at the Navotas sanitary landfill that had not been operational since 2025. Authorities had difficulty extinguishing the flames, with the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) reporting “smoldering conditions” as of April 23.
The BFP earlier said that the “built-up methane gas from decomposing materials reached its ignition point due to exposed waste surfaces,” noting that the fire gutted around 80 percent of the 43-hectare facility.
Under the new memorandum, the EMB regional offices will be reviewing the contingency plans of landfill operators to determine if it is adequate and comply with Republic Act No. 9003, also known as the “Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000.”
The plan must include fire prevention and suppression measures, emergency response protocols during fires, slope failure, leachate overflow, gas explosions and other incidents, evacuation and public safety procedures, as well as post-incident rehabilitation and environmental mitigation measures.
