Residents of West Tower and areas in the vicinity of the 22-story condominium in Barangay Bangkal, Makati City, have accused Lopez-owned First Philippine Industrial Corp. (FPIC) and its contractors of continuously discharging fuel-contaminated water directly into the city’s sewage system.
In a letter sent the other day to Roberto Sheen, regional director of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources-Environmental Management Bureau (DENR-EMB), around 250 residents demanded that the practice be stopped.
“We demand a thorough investigation of FPIC and all its contractors with the end view of prosecuting the guilty parties who initiated and continue to discharge these pollutants in our community,” the residents said as they also sought a probe of errant government officials and agencies that should be held responsible.
According to the residents, the sewage system is connected to Estero Tripa de Galina which traverses the cities of Makati, Pasay and Parañaque.
West Tower residents were forced to leave the building last year due to an oil leak in the basement. The leak, which is still being cleaned up, was later traced to a nearby oil pipeline owned and operated by FPIC. The pipeline transports fuel products from Batangas province to the Pandacan depot in Manila.
Meanwhile, the residents also expressed disappointment with Sheen, saying he failed to take action on their complaint which they brought to his attention in August.
In their Aug. 5 letter to Sheen, the residents claimed that Bensan Industries Inc. was dumping fuel-contaminated water taken from the West Tower basement directly into the Estero Tripa de Galina.
They pointed out that when Bensan was still under their supervision, Sheen stopped the company from siphoning the wastewater that had seeped into the basement for the same reason.
“But now that Bensan operates under FPIC, it [is] allowed to operate in the very same manner,” the residents said.
They also alleged that FPIC contractors Waste Solutions and Management Services Inc. (WSMSI) and CH2MHill continue to treat contaminated water and dump it directly into the sewers although these companies are not authorized to treat toxic waste.
The residents also noted that they have not noticed any DENR personnel monitoring the activities of FPIC and its contractors.
On the other hand, Sheen, in his Sept. 2 response to the residents’ first letter, said that the wastewater being dumped by FPIC had passed through a wastewater treatment facility and that so far, FPIC had passed the bureau’s wastewater discharge analyses.
Reached for comment, FPIC said that its wastewater treatment contractors were accredited and duly licensed wastewater treaters.
“For the pumping out and treatment of hydrocarbon-tainted water from the West Tower basement, FPIC obtained a special wastewater discharge permit from the DENR-EMB. Prior to any discharge, the hydrocarbon tainted water, which is estimated to have less than 0.1% hydrocarbon, is treated by the mobile treatment unit and the API oil and water separator equipment. All effluents pass the standards of the DENR and the Clean Water Act. There is regular monitoring and testing of the effluents and these are regularly reported to the DENR-EMB,” it stated.
It added that members of the media and other concerned groups were welcome to inspect their operations at West Tower.