INs Land and Soil Pollution; AWARENESS, the big word

It is of no doubt that when there is human intervention, there is pollution. Sounds

inhumane if you say but yeah like the meme that I had come across this weekend in Facebook
says, nature can survive without us humans. Good thing! We cant do anything about it anymore,
we are part of nature and it is embedded in our DNA to use the resources in it for us to survive.

And many things almost every resource that humans use comes from the land. And
more often than not, during excavation of these resources, the natural system of the environment
is sacrificed.

Ilocos Norte, with a total land resource of 0.34 million hectares, largely depends in
Agriculture for its economy. Thirty-eight percent of its land area is classified as agricultural land
and rice-based production system prevails. Surprisingly, according to Agricultural Officers
specifically in the Municipalities of Batac and Dingras (which are known to have a large area of
agricultural land) have high use of agricultural chemicals and groundwater during dry season is
observed causing water pollution due to nitrates and pesticide residues. However, crop
diversification is observed in large part of the province preserving the soil plant nutrients N, P, K,
and Ca.

Although, local government outlooks that agriculture will still maintain its central role in
INs economy, it is evident now with the increasing investments of big companies and the
dramatic increase of tourist visiting the province that there is a building competition for land
with industrialization, recreation parks and tourism areas.

With this- industrialization coming into scene, intensive activities like surface mining,
deforestation and the what-nots emphasizes the threat of soil and land pollution in the region.

In fact, the Construction Industry Authority of the Philippines (CIAP) report reveals that
in Region 1 resource extractive construction industry is BOOMING. Widespread construction
happens around from simple bungalow to medium-rise establishment attesting to the validity of
the CIAP report.

With the demand for construction uprising, there will also be an increase of the volume of
aggregates to be extracted from quarry sites. Riverbanks and mountains would be greatly
sacrificed as gravel and sand which are the most important materials in the construction industry
will be ejected there.

Such extractions alter the normal occurrences of nature. Soil hauled from the mountains
affect the watershed. Gravel and sand extractions widen the river banks, lower its elevation and
weaken soil cohesion. Which further babasahin kaya to ni maam leads to soil erosion that
induces water pollution as the soil particles that is being carried can act as transporter of
contaminants that are sorbed to particulate surfaces which then gives birth to further
environmental disorders such as euthrophication.

Quarrying is widely observed in the municipality of Bangui to sustain the on-going

developments of the municipality itself and to the nearby towns of Dumalneg and Pagudpud.

Moreover, issues about solid waste in the province have also been a major concern.
Environmental advocates are pushing municipalities to strategize and have their own mitigation
plans with regards to the latter. More specifically to their own dump sites as the Department of
Natural Resources strongly urge them to have their own engineered waste facility as it poses a
great risk not only in the contamination of the land but also of the ground water.

Ilocos Norte is no pollution-free. Half a million people live here- that means there is a
SIGNIFICANT HUMAN INTERVENTION = POLLUTION. However, even though it is
embedded in our DNA that we should extract or consume the resources that we have we should
also think of the future. That the resources are finite and we need to conserve it and one way of
conserving it is to make sure that those that functions in the natural processing of the earth will
be the way it is before we came into the scene, like the land.

We may not realize it but yes, the Land/soil is one of those that render environmental
services. It screens water to make it pure, its a source of nutrients and most importantly it is
where we live. So one thing that I guess is vital more than anything that we should do/act with
regards to LAND POLLUTION is the awareness that it is finite and vulnerable.

With this awareness, we will be cautious to anything that we do not only today but also
for the rest of our lives that we live above it.

Ronnel S. Pagurayan
BS in Environmental Science