Coast Guard still monitoring Petron pipeline off Cavite

A day after saying the oil spill involving Petron's submarine pipeline off Cavite province had been contained, the Philippine Coast Guard is still keeping watch over the area Saturday.

The PCG said the undersea pipeline damaged by tropical cyclone “Basyang" (Conson) is still intermittently spewing fuel oil at the rate of one liter every 10 minutes.

“(It) is being contained by Petron work force under the supervision of the PCG by laying 20 segments of oil spill booms, and scooping through the use of absorbent materials the fuel oil collected inside of the boom. On the other hand, the fuel oil that escapes from the boom is being sprayed with dispersant," the Coast Guard said in its website Saturday.

But it said the control valve to the Petron depot has so far been shut down.

Petron has fabricated a steel plate to encapsulate or encase the leaking portions of the pipeline which shall be done with the aid of technical divers early Sunday.

“An estimated 560 liters of fuel oil had so far leaked out from the said pipeline. Petron has estimated at only 1,000 liters the remaining fuel that can still leak out from the estimated 1.6-kilometer pipeline of 12-inch diameter. This is because Petron claims that only residual fuel oil remains on the pipeline every after fuel transfer operation," the PCG said.

It added its Oil Spill Response Teams on board SAR Vessel 003 will remain on site until the leak is fully contained.

Meanwhile, the PCG remains on alert at the site where a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) carrier sank in Bataan province at the height of tropical cyclone Basyang Wednesday, to ensure no oil spill occurs there.

It said it is also watching the sites in nearby areas where other vessels ran aground.

Now half-submerged off Limay in Bataan is LPG carrier Deborah Uno, even as the Coast Guard said a prospective salvor had already surveyed it for a planned refloating and eventual removal from the site.

The Coast Guard and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources’ teams had found no oil spill in initial surveys around the area. — LBG, GMANews.TV