FPIC contractor bares positive test results on petroleum seepage

MANILA, Philippines - CH2MHill, Philippines Inc. (CH2MHill), a US-based contractor that First Philippine Industrial Corp. (FPIC) engaged for remediation and rehabilitation work for the areas affected by the petroleum seepage in Barangay Bangkal, Makati City, said in a press briefing yesterday that based on initial test results on the extent of the environmental damage on the soil, there appeared to be a small portion of the Bangkal community that has been affected by the plume.

CH2MHILL installed at least 20 monitoring wells around the West Tower and Barangay Bangkal area and extracted water samples for laboratory testing sent to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in December 2010. The results show that the plume consisting of pure petroleum products has been determined as having an area of 7,000 square meters which settled underground of South Super Highway and the adjacent service road. The dissolved phase, which consists of both groundwater and petroleum product, is said to be within an area of another 8,000 square meters extending beyond the pure product plume area. This means that the petroleum products are contained in a smaller area than originally estimated.

CH2MHILL project manager Edmund Piquero Jr. said, “This is a positive development because it appears that the petroleum product has not affected a larger area than initial estimates. We are inclined towards using a multi-phase extraction system which creates a drawdown of the groundwater causing the convergence of pure petroleum product and accelerating the recovery of product.”

In this method, groundwater and petroleum will be extracted from the ground. The water and petroleum products will be separated and the water will be treated prior to discharge. The contaminants in the soil will be removed using a vacuum system that will pull air across the impacted soil causing the volatilization of the petroleum products. In effect, it will lead to faster recovery of the products.

The company has also started the cleanup of the West Tower condominium in Bangkal, Makati, and Piquero said they expect that the draining of the petroleum products from the basement of the West Tower to be completed by May. 

Currently, there are six product recovery wells (PRWs) in the vicinity of West Tower condominium.

“As of now, we are recovering 3,000 liters of water and petroleum products a day from the six PRWs. As of Jan. 11, 2011, 37,600 liters PRWs. We hope to accelerate the recovery of 5,000 to 6,000 liters per day in the next two weeks if we are allowed to install two additional product recovery wells closer to the West Tower,” he said.

More wells, Piquero said, could be drilled depending on the pumping tests to be conducted soon.

Meanwhile, Department of Energy (DOE) has commissioned an expert from the Societe General de Surveillance (SGS) to evaluate the integrity of the pipeline of FPIC to get it ready for its eventual reopening.

Energy Undersecretary Jay Layug has confirmed that the DOE got the services of a New Zealand-based expert.

“Yes, we have tapped a third party to evaluate the integrity of the pipeline,” he said.

The DOE has created its own team that is expected to come up with its evaluation on the tests being conducted on the pipeline.