Inquirer.net: Major fuel pipeline ordered shut down

[badkuk]

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquire...ered-shut-down

Major fuel pipeline ordered shut down
By Tina Santos
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 00:39:00 10/29/2010

Filed Under: Environmental pollution, Pollution
MANILA, Philippines—The Makati government on Thursday ordered the First Philippine Industrial Corporation (FPIC) to shut down its pipeline as experts continue to determine the source of the oil leak that has been seeping into the basement of the West Tower condominium in Barangay (village) Bangkal for the past three months now.

FPIC is the operator of the country’s largest commercial pipeline, which transports fuel products from Batangas province to Pandacan oil depots in Manila. Part of the pipeline is located along Osmena Highway, just a few meters away from the condominium.

“We have already directed the FPIC to close their pipeline indefinitely,” said Mayor Jejomar Erwin Binay Jr. during a press briefing.

A substance with a “high concentration” of petrochemicals spilled from one of the exploratory wells dug by geologists and hydrologists from the University of the Philippines, part of the task force that has been conducting a probe to determine the source of the leak.

The well is located at the southbound lane of the Osmeña Highway near the condominium, about five meters away from the FPIC pipeline.

“We will continue to excavate where the petroleum came out, so without physically seeing that there is a leak on the pipeline, then we have to wait. But all fingers and all indications now point to the pipeline as the source of the leak. That’s why for the safety of everyone and the people working on the site, we are already directing the FPIC to shut down the pipe,” Binay said.

Apart from the pipeline, experts earlier were looking at two other possible sources of the leak—the West Tower condominium itself and the buried fuel tank or metallic object as suggested by a ground-penetrating radar (GPR) survey commissioned by the FPIC.

“But both the West Tower and the fuel tanks have already been ruled out. Now with the discovery of petroleum coming out from a portion near the pipeline, there’s reason for us to believe that the leak is coming from their pipe,” Binay stressed.

“And I think it’s not a question of whether or not they’re willing to shut it down. We’re talking here of the danger that the situation poses to the lives and property in the community,” he said, adding that they have earlier warned the company of such possibility.

“We’ve already discussed it with them that there may be a possibility that they will be asked to shut down the pipeline. And we told them they should already have a contingency plan on how to haul gasoline supply for Metro Manila once it happens,” the mayor explained. “They cannot put the blame on the city government because they have been forewarned.

Sought for comment, Efren Impreso, FPIC’s pipeline right-of-way division manager, said they had not yet received the official communication from Makati City Hall directing them to shut down their pipeline.

“But we have voluntarily shut it down since last night,” he told Inquirer over the phone on Thrusday. “We’ve also been conducting excavation works to determine the source of the leak. As of this time, the petroleum leak was apparently spilling from the holes that the authorities have dug up, not from the pipeline itself. We cannot make any conclusion unless we see the leak actually coming from the pipeline.”

The FPIC official said he was not in authority to say whether it’s possible to shut down the pipeline indefinitely.

“It has to be discussed by the Department of Energy and the oil companies. But it will definitely affect the oil supply since the pipeline transports about 60 percent of Metro Manila’s petroleum needs 24 hours a day,” Impreso said.

[badkuk]

tanong lang:

1. forgive my naivety, but don't oil companies use trucks to deliver fuel?

2. Should the pipe be shut down for an extended period, what areas are affected? Pagkasabi the pipeline supplies 60% of MM

3. Gaano kaya katagal bago maayos? The pipe seems to go under cities/residential areas, so it's not going to be as simple as cordoning off the area and digging up the pipe...

4. Does part of the pipe run under Makati? Or is the leaking fuel just pooling under WTC somehow?

[Monseratto]

Heard over the news that they have begun trucking in the fuel. Hope they won't use it as an excuse to increase fuel prices.

http://www.gmanews.tv/story/204622/f...-fuel-shortage

Firm in Makati gas leak warns of fuel shortage

MARK DALAN MERUENAS, GMANews.TV
10/28/2010 | 09:45 PM

The First Philippine Industrial Corp. (FPIC) blamed for a gas leak in Makati City on Thursday expressed fears that shutting down its pipelines could trigger a fuel shortage in Metro Manila.

“There will be a shortage of fuel in Manila for our motorists, commercial users and even our airplanes," said FPIC president Leonides Garde in an interview on dzBB radio.

The Lopez-owned firm supplies 50 to 60 percent of fuel used in Metro Manila, said Garde.

Garde’s warning came on the same day Makati City mayor Jun-Jun Binay Jr. said the gas leak could “possibly" come from FPIC pipelines based on the drilling conducted by a team of geologists from the University of the Philippines.

Binay, however, said it was still too early to make a conclusion that the FPIC was to blame for the leak.

FPIC, on the other hand, assured the public of its continued and full cooperation with authorities in locating the source of the petroleum seepage in the Bangkal area of Makati City.

It is working hand in hand with the Makati City government in conducting excavations at the area to locate the actual source of the gas leak.

“FPIC has conducted numerous excavations and a host of tests to determine the source of the seepage," Garde said in a statement issued Thursday.

“The results of the tests have given leads on the possible origin of the seepage. We will focus on these leads and continue our excavation work on a 24-hour basis to locate the leak," he added.

New leak

Authorities discovered the leak at the basement of 22-storey West Tower condominium at the corner of South Super Highway and Del Pilar Street last July, but it was only on Thursday that excavation work around the area commenced.

The excavation was conducted after the UP geologists discovered a new gas leak in the area, this time along the south-bound service road of Osmeña Highway in Barangay Bangkal, just a few meters from West Tower.

In the dzBB interview, Garde said even if the leak is traced to their pipeline, there is no need to shut down the facility, saying repair would only take “hours."

“Kung magre-repair kailangan lang itigil ang pipeline pero madali lang iyon (The repair of the affected pipeline is easy). It’s a matter of hours," he assured.

The FPIC has two pipelines running underground, carrying gasoline, diesel, kerosene, and aviation fuel from refineries in Batangas to oil terminals in Pandacan and in Parañaque. Two of FPIC's largest clients are oil giants Chevron Philippines and Pilipinas Shell, which has earlier been reported to be suffering the most due to the gas leak. - KBK, GMANews.TV