Roxas Holdings Inc.’s (RHI) power unit Roxol Bioenergy Corp. (RBC) suspended its operations in Negros Occidental following complaints of foul odor coming from its bioethanol plant.
The Office of La Carlota City Mayor Luis Jalandoni III issued a cease and desist order (CDO) against the plant for 30 days.
“The local government said the suspension of the CDO, which was served last Friday evening, may be lifted at any time as soon as RBC demonstrates a substantial mitigation of the complained odor,” RHI disclosed.
In March 2015, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) suspended RBC for violating the Clean Water Act after it polluted the Marayo River.
RHI said its power unit already sped its annual off-season repairs and maintenance 15 days earlier to address the plant’s problems.
The company supplies fuel ethanol to oil companies under the Biofuels Act of 2006, which directs oil firms to blend 10 percent of ethanol with their gasoline.