Oil leak cleanup worries expert

An expert has raised concerns about the effects of the system to be used by the Lopez-led First Philippine Industrial Corp. (FPIC) for the recovery and treatment of petroleum products that leaked from its pipeline nearly two years ago.

Dr. Carlo Arcilla, director of the University of the Philippines National Institute of Geological Sciences (UP-NIGS), said the Multi-Phase Extraction (MPE) System to be used by FPIC could have effects on the ground, air and water quality of the immediate vicinity of West Tower condominium.

The oil leak was first detected in the basement of the 22-story condominium in Barangay (village) Bangkal, Makati City, in July 2010, leading to the building’s closure.

In a town hall meeting with barangay residents and condominium unit owners Wednesday, Arcilla explained that around one million liters of petroleum products remain trapped underground. Some remain in pure petroleum form while the rest have either seeped into the soil or mixed with groundwater.

“What the MPE will do is to siphon off the water and petrol and separate it,” he said. “The water will then be passed through filtration systems before being released back to the drainage system while the petroleum can still be treated and used as bunker fuel. Meanwhile, unusable petroleum will be burned off.”

Arcilla pointed out that although the MPE had been approved by the Inter-Agency Committee on Environmental Health—the government task force formed to oversee the cleanup and restoration of petroleum-in leak-affected areas, there were still questions about the system.

“First, since this will involve a lot of siphoning of materials underground, the water table could collapse. In effect, the ground level could gradually sink,” he said.

However, chances of that happening are slim as Arcilla said that a thick layer of adobe rock covers the water table. “Should this happen, FPIC should pay,” he added.

His other concerns were the quality of air and water that would be released back to the environment after treatment.

To monitor this, Arcilla said that UP-NIGS has purchased a gas chromatography–mass spectrometry machine to detect the presence of toxic chemicals, such as carcinogens, in the treated discharge.

“The testing will be done every two weeks once the MPE system has started operating,” he said.

The cleanup operation could start within the month and last for more than three years.