Explain project plans first, Bangkal residents tell FPIC

A group of residents living near the West Tower Condominium in Barangay (village) Bangkal, Makati City, has expressed its opposition to the plan of Lopez-owned First Philippine Industrial Corp. (FPIC) to construct a bypass on its pipeline and install a multi-phase extraction processor in the area.

A pipeline bypass means replacing and redirecting a portion of the existing pipeline with another series of pipes while multi-phase extraction refers to a technology used to remove contaminated groundwater and soil vapor.

“The planned pipeline bypass will bring the pipeline closer to the residents in the barangay instead of farther away,” the group of around 50 residents said in its letters to barangay chairman Fermin Eusebio, which were forwarded to Mayor Jejomar Erwin Binay Jr.

FPIC operates the pipeline system, a portion of which runs on Osmeña Highway near the West Tower building. The pipeline, earlier found to be the source of the oil that had been leaking into the basement of the condominium, transports oil products from Batangas province to the Pandacan oil depot in Manila.

According to the residents, they learned that a segment of the existing pipeline would be redirected away from the Magallanes flyover and relocated west of its present location.

The FPIC earlier said that new pipes needed to be installed because the interchange was causing “metal fatigue” on the existing pipeline.

“Recovery [of the oil which leaked from the pipeline and seeped into the ground] and remediation should be completed first,” the residents stressed.

They added that the company should first explain the need for the project as well as its possible effects.

Apart from the pipeline bypass, the residents also slammed FPIC’s plan to install and operate a multi-phase extraction processor and other equipment in a leased property on Hen. Capinpin Street, a few meters away from the condominium.

“We oppose and object to the close proximity to our homes of the chosen location for the extraction processor,” they said. “Our lives have already been turned upside down as a result of the oil leak; we do not need unnecessary disruptions anymore.”

Joey Salgado, Makati public information officer, said the city government had asked FPIC to address the residents’ concerns.

“The city government also looks forward to a briefing from FPIC,” Salgado added.