Payatas dumpsite

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

People residing in the Smokey Mountain landfill in Tondo, Manila who often works as scavengers migrated to the Payatas dumpsite after the closure of the former in 1995 with the latter developing 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".[3]

On July 10, 2000, a landslide in the area caused the deaths of 232 people residing within the landfill,[2] which prompted the passage of Republic Act No. 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000,[4] which mandates the closure of open dumpsites by 2001 and controlled dumpsites by 2006.[5] The dumping ground was immediately closed following the incident by then-President Joseph Estrada but was reopened weeks later by then-Quezon City Mayor Ismael Mathay Jr. to avert an epidemic in the city due to uncollected garbage caused by the closure.[2]

In 2004, the landfill was reorganized as a controlled disposal facility[4] but was closed in December 2010.[6] A separate landfill with stricter waste management policy was established nearby the old open dumpsite[1] in January 2011.[6] Garbage in the dumpsite was dumped on a layer of tarpaulin to prevent seepage of leachate to the groundwater.[4] The dumpsite closed in December 2017 following the Environmental Management Bureau order issued on August 2, 2017 so that it could review the environmental compliance certificate (ECC) of IPM Environmental Services, the operator of the dumpsite at that time.[5]