'West Tower not source of oil leak'

MANILA, Philippines - The city government of Makati yesterday cleared the West Tower condominium in Barangay Bangkal as the source of the oil leak that prompted its residents to vacate the building nearly three months ago.

Joey Salgado, city public information officer, told The STAR that they came up with the conclusion after visiting the building’s fourth basement in September.

Salgado said if the underground fuel spill comes from the building’s basement, then the floods “should have dried up by now” because it is continuously siphoned off.

He added that a series of tests showed that the basement water is contaminated by at least three types of fuel: gasoline, kerosene, and diesel.

“It is clear to us now that West Tower is not the source because its storage tank in basement four has only one type of fuel,” Salgado said over the phone.

Following the discovery, Salgado said they coordinated with UP National Institute for Geological Sciences (UP NIGS) to construct at least two capture wells that will drain the contaminated water even before it enters the building’s basement.

The construction is expected to begin during the latter part of next week and will be shouldered by the local government.