Payatas dumpsite

The Payatas dumpsite, also known as the Payatas Controlled Disposal Facility (PCDF), is a former garbage dump in the barangay of the same name in Quezon City, Metro Manila, the Philippines.

Originally established in the 1970s,^[1] the former open dumpsite was home to scavengers who migrated to the area after the closure of the Smokey Mountain landfill in Tondo, Manila.^[2] After the Payatas landslide happened in 2000,^[3] the newly passed Ecological Solid Waste Management Act mandated the closure of open and controlled dumpsites. The dumpsite was reorganized into a controlled disposal facility in 2004 and was permanently closed in 2017.^[4]

The former dumpsite is currently being redeveloped into an urban park for cycling activities.^[5]

The dumpsite was established in the 1970s,^[1] as an open dumpsite in Lupang Pangako in Payatas, Quezon City.^[3] Prior to this, the area used to be a ravine surrounded by farming villages and rice paddies.^[2]

People residing in the Smokey Mountain landfill in Tondo, Manila who worked as scavengers migrated to the Payatas dumpsite after the former's closure in 1995. Payatas then developed a reputation as the "second Smokey Mountain", "21st century Smokey Mountain", "Smokey Mountain Two", "New Smokey Mountain", "Smokey Valley", or the "modern-day Smokey Mountain".^[2] On July 10, 2000, the Payatas landslide caused the deaths of 232 people residing within the landfill,^[3] which prompted the passage of Republic Act No. 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000,^[4] which mandated the closure of open dumpsites by 2001 and controlled dumpsites by 2006.^[6] The dumping ground was immediately closed following the incident by then-President Joseph Estrada, but was reopened weeks later by then-Quezon City Mayor Mel Mathay to avert an epidemic in the city due to uncollected garbage caused by the closure.^[3]

In 2000, a geologist from the University of the Philippines raised that there might be a possible leakage of leachate from the dumpsite to the La Mesa Dam and Reservoir.^[7] The dumpsite is located less than 500 m (1,600 ft) from the reservoir itself.^[8]

In 2004, the landfill was reorganized as a controlled disposal facility^[4] and was closed in December 2010.^[9]

A separate landfill with a stricter waste management policy was established nearby the old open dumpsite^[1] in January 2011.^[9] Garbage in the dumpsite was dumped on a layer of tarpaulin to prevent seepage of leachate to the groundwater.^[4] This dumpsite was permanently closed in December 2017 following an order issued by the DENR Environmental Management Bureau (DENR-EMB) on August 2, 2017, so that it could review the environmental compliance certificate (ECC) of IPM Environmental Services, the operator of the dumpsite.^[6]

In January 2020, the Quezon City Regional Trial Court ordered the government of Quezon City to pay more than 6 million pesos to the relatives of the 2000 Payatas landslide victims.^[10]

In March 2023, the former dumpsite was redeveloped into an urban park for cycling activities.^[5]

History

See also

References

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