Environment Secretary Lito Atienza said Thursday he will order the suspension of the Rizal Provincial Landfill's operation after receiving reports that its operator is dumping leachate (garbage juice) into the Montalban River.

Atienza said he will immediately order the temporary closure of the landfill station if investigators of the Department of Natural Environment and Resources (DENR) prove that waster water are being dumped into the river.

"We cannot allow it to operate one day more if waste water is being dumped into the Montalban River," the environment secretary told ABS-CBN's morning show, "Umagang Kay Ganda."

He said he will dispatch a DENR team to the dumping site. He said the department will call on Rizal Governor Casimiro Ynares III and the landfill's operator if the illegal act is proven.

On Wednesday night, an ABS-CBN news team went with Montalban policemen and local government officials who conducted a raid at the dumping site.

The officials were met with a gunshot and personally saw how the leachate is being dumped into the river.

The Montalban municipal officials suspect the Rizal Provincial Landfill doesn't have a waste water system.

Jimmy Baltazar, municipal administrator of the Montalban local government, said the operator of the landfill may be charged for violation of the Clean Water Act, Republic Act 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act and a municipal ordinance.

Rizal gov is 'environment friendly'

Atienza, meanwhile, quickly absolved Ynares in the illegal dumping of waste water into the Montalban River.

He said the governor had been very supportive of the DENR's effort to protect the environment in the province.

"I believe Governor Ynares is a very environment friendly local executive. I don't think he knows anything [about the illegal waste water dumping]," Atienza said.

Ynares, for his part, said he had ordered the Rizal police provincial office to investigate the shooting during the landfill's raid.

He said the Rizal provincial government will send a letter to Atienza requesting the DENR secretary to activate a multipartite monitoring team to investigate the leachate's dumping.

The governor said the landfill's operator should be charged if the illegal dumping is proven.