PHILIPPINE Red Cross (PRC) Chairman Richard Gordon on Wednesday called on the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and local governments to quickly survey manufacturing plants and warehouses harboring hazardous chemicals in Metro Manila and other population centers, following an industrial accident beginning on Sunday afternoon in Quezon City, where toxic fumes escaped from the D&L Chemrez plastics plant in Calle Industria in Barangay Bagumbayan, and caused distress to surrounding residents in QC and Pasig City.
In a statement, Gordon said responding PRC workers and volunteers who rushed to the scene on Monday after midnight to aid barangay residents near the plant had to seek medical attention afterward with two PRC workers taken to St. Luke’s Medical Center in QC for checkup and further observation. Three other PRC volunteers were taken to the East Avenue Medical Center for arterial blood testing and chest x-rays.
Gordon said QC and Pasig residents had called the PRC Operations Center seeking help, owing to the chemical gas leak from the plant which had caused a foul and pervasive stench affecting them.
PRC Opcen sent a four-man ambulance team at 2 a.m. on Monday to link up with two other PRC medical units and volunteers already aiding residents who evacuated to the Bagumbayan barangay hall.
The PRC workers noted a pervasive “ammonia-like” odor even at the evacuation center, despite the efforts of the QC firefighters who were continuously pumping water inside the Chemrez plant facilities in an attempt to dissipate the noxious fumes.
Three PRC tankers also topped up the fire hydrant reservoir with 30,000 liters of water to help ensure enough water for the firefighters’ efforts.
Because of the toxic environment, the PRC units pulled back after several hours with workers complaining of severe headaches, respiratory distress and fever, the Opcen reported.
“As it stands, surrounding residents in QC and Pasig and our brave PRC workers and firefighters were exposed to hazardous materials. But the situation could have been much worse if the chemical storage facility had exploded. There would have been catastrophic loss of life affecting a wide area,” Gordon said.
Gordon said government units should survey industrial plants and warehouses with hazardous chemicals near population centers, and check if the storage and treatment of these materials met international safety standards.
“There should also be stricter zoning of industrial plants and warehouses with hazardous materials away from homes. An earthquake, fire or accident could cause great loss of life to residents even kilometers away from an industrial plant.”