| Author | Post |
|---|
maven
Moderator
| Joined: | Fri Jun 2nd, 2006 |
| Location: | Philippines |
| Posts: | 131 |
| Status: |
Offline
|
|
Posted: Sun Feb 11th, 2007 12:50 pm |
|
Not too good news about Baguio...
Baguio air quality getting worse
Pollution gauge see increasing particle volume
Inquirer
Last updated 04:57am (Mla time) 02/11/2007
BAGUIO CITY—The air quality in the city is getting worse and proposals to withdraw ordinances that regulate traffic flow will not correct this environmental anomaly, local officials said.
Environmental advocates and experts agreed in a meeting this week that plans to withdraw a number-coding scheme to reduce the number of vehicles on Baguio streets were untimely, said Colleen Lacsamana, head of the city environment and parks management office.
Pressure from local businessmen has convinced some officials to nullify the number-coding ordinance, according to acting Mayor Reinaldo Bautista Jr.
Some councilors have also offered to liberalize the existing law by widening the criteria for exempting vehicles from the regulation.
Lacsamana said the latest air quality readings issued by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources indicated that pollution coming from vehicle emission in downtown Baguio had exceeded last year’s average by 20 percent.
Bad numbers
The year 2006 posted an improvement in air quality when air quality monitors posted 164 micrograms per cubic meter (ugcm) of total suspended particles (TSP). TSP measures the pollutants in the air.
The city averages between 165 ugcm and 189 ugcm, but the year opened with downtown Baguio’s TSP exceeding 200 ugcm, said Rolando Reyes, a DENR Cordillera air quality expert.
Lacsamana said the number coding helped keep down vehicular volume by 20 percent, which enabled the city to keep pollution down.
Conditions worsened on Friday because of a fire that spread at the city dump site in Barangay Irisan, which pushed readings to 231 ugcm. The tolerable ceiling posted for Baguio is 230 ugcm.
Reyes attributed the increase in the pollution reading to pollutants emitted from the fire at the dump and which were transmitted to downtown Baguio area by wind.
The fire was the second to hit the Irisan dump in the last two years. The first fire took days before it was contained, and after the city council increased funding for fire fighting equipment.
City personnel filled up the crevices in the dump to reduce the oxygen that fed the fire that started underneath the pile of garbage. Vincent Cabreza, Inquirer Northern Luzon
|
tfa1957
Member
| Joined: | Tue Dec 26th, 2006 |
| Location: | |
| Posts: | 1 |
| Status: |
Offline
|
|
Posted: Sun Mar 18th, 2007 07:38 am |
|
So what'sthe latest news onthe polution issues in Baguio? Is the air quality also severe on the outskirts of Baguio?
Sincerely,
Tom
|
Tatoosh
Member
|
Posted: Sat Jan 12th, 2008 03:39 am |
|
It is January 2008 and the air quality in Baguio is still very poor, particularly in the downtown area and any major thoroughfare during rush hours. Primarily due to diesel fumes, Session Road is often almost unbreathable.
Outside of the most congested areas, the occasional rains and mountain breezes make the area much more breathable. The cooler temperatures and relatively easy access to shopping keep this a very popular place to visit and it has a fairly good expat presence as well.
|
tom_shor1
Member
| Joined: | Wed Jan 2nd, 2008 |
| Location: | Arizona USA |
| Posts: | 30 |
| Status: |
Offline
|
|
Posted: Sat Jan 12th, 2008 10:24 pm |
|
| I haven't been to Baguio in years. I don't remember the air quality being so bad there then. I guess more cars and jeepnys now.
|
Tatoosh
Member
|
Posted: Sun Jan 13th, 2008 03:16 am |
|
I have only lived in Baguio for about 9 months, so it is hard for me compare to years back. But when I talk with "old timers", one who has lived here for over twenty years, a very common complaint is the traffic and the diesel fumes.
More recently, an imposition of a waste segregation rule has caused a lot of garbage to be left sitting on the curb, rotting away. The rule requires that everyone sorts their garbage out prior to putting it out or it doesn't get picked up. Since many have refused to comply, piles of garbage just sat. It is slowly improving from the first few weeks of the new rule when garbage piles litterally were stacked everywhere! It is a sad reflection of a city that was once renowned for it attractiveness.
A whole lot of finger pointing in the local newspapers, but not much done to alleviate the problem. So it goes. Just have to pick your path carefully. 
|
tom_shor1
Member
| Joined: | Wed Jan 2nd, 2008 |
| Location: | Arizona USA |
| Posts: | 30 |
| Status: |
Offline
|
|
Posted: Mon Jan 14th, 2008 02:15 am |
|
| That is a shame it used to be such a beautiful place. And very clean. Last time I was there was 1998. Before that it was 1983 and 1985.
|
Current time is 08:28 pm | |
|
