THE Supreme Court has allowed the reopening of the over 40-year old White Oil Pipeline (WOPL) that used to transport fuel products from Batangas to the Pandacan Oil depot in Manila subject to several conditions.
The 117-km WOPL, which was being operated by the First Philippine Industrial Corporation (FPIC), was ordered closed after a leak was discovered in May 2010 upon the complaints of residents of West Tower Condominium.
Prior to its closure, the pipeline supplied more than 50 percent of the petroleum products for the oil depot in Pandacan, Manila, considered as the largest and most important depot in the country.
The depot supplies to 459 fuel dealers in Metro Manila and about 1,800 gas stations in Regions 1 to 4.
That same year, 2010, the residents of West Tower Condominium Corporations filed a writ of kalikasan petition on behalf of the West Tower residents and the surrounding areas in Barangay (village) Bangkal, Makati City.
Then, the high court issued a writ and a temporary environmental protection order (TEPO) calling for, among others, the checking of the structural integrity of the WOPL and required FPIC to submit a certification from the Department of Energy (DOE) that the WOPL is safe for commercial use.
In 2013, West Tower said the DOE is incapable of determining the structural integrity of WOPL.
In a ruling made public Thursday, the high court ordered the DOE to strictly oversee the implementation of the test run of the entire stretch of the WOPL, which will be conducted by the FPIC.
Some of the preparations to the test run include gas testing along the right-of-way using the monitoring wells or boreholes, inspection of right-of-way and observation of gas testing, setting up of additional boreholes, among others.
On the actual test-run, FPIC shall perform among others, the use of pipe-cleaning devices called pig-run.
These devices are necessary for the maintenance of pipeline infrastructure. It is used to remove dirt or general construction debris that may have been left during the construction. It is necessary for a more efficient flow of product, and to control corrosion.
The FPIC shall also demonstrate and observe various pressure and leakage tests, such as the “blocked-in pressure test,” while all openings of WOPL are blocked or closed off and the “in-operation test” or the hourly monitoring of pressure rating after the pipeline and continued inspection of the gas flow from the boreholes.
The DOE, is required to do an onsite inspection of the pipeline, observe the running operation of the pig-run and check the instruments used for the actual test run.
After the test, the DOE is tasked to determine if the WOPL is safe for commercial operations.
Once the WOPL is reopened, the DOE has been tasked by the high court to continue the implementation of the Pipeline Integrity Management System (PIMS) by conducting daily patrols on the entire stretch of the WOPL every two hours, periodic testing and auditing of the pipeline’s mass input against mass output.
The high court also ordered FPIC to continue the remediation, rehabilitation and restoration of the affected environment in Barangay Bangkal in Makati and to acquire the necessary permits at the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).
The high court also ordered the Makati City government to submit to the DENR the remediation plan.