Police downplay oil spill in Marikina

An oil storage tank near a Marikina City mall was ruptured last Saturday due to strong flood waves but residents need not worry about the spilled oil posing a danger, police said Monday. Senior Superintendent Ronaldo Po, chief of the National Capital Region’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG), said the oil pipe connected to the storage tank and the plant of Noah’s Paper Mills near SM City Marikina was "ruptured or disconnected." The tank, which had a capacity of carrying 650,000 liters of bunker oil, was filled with more or less 100,000 liters at the time that it was forced by flood waters to move from its base, Po said. "Although the tank was bolted on a cement base, the force of the flood caused it to move upwards by just around one foot on one side but enough to disconnect the pipe," he said in a text message. Po said the oil spilled within the plant area, then to the basement parking of the mall, before portions of it moved to the Marikina River. But the police officer quickly dismissed dangers that might be caused by the spill. "Wala ng panganib akong nakikita sa ngayon, konti lang bakas ng oil na napunta sa ilog (I don’t see any danger right now, there was only a little oil that drifted to the river)," he said, adding that the owner of the storage tank has vowed to clean up the mess caused by the spill. Po, however, said the Department of Environment and Natural Resources should keep track of where the paper mill’s owners will dispose paper tainted with oil. GMANews.TV earlier received a report of residents in barangays Calumpang, where the mall is located, and San Roque smelling oil in their area. Metropolitan Manila Development Authority general manager Roberto Nacianceno confirmed in a text message that the report is connected to the paper mill's oil storage tank spill. Marikina City, along with several areas in Metro Manila, Region III, and Region IV-A, were severely hit by tropical storm "Ondoy" which struck Saturday. According to the National Disaster Coordinating Council, the number of fatalities due to the storm has risen to 100. The agency has also pegged the number of people affected by "Ondoy" at nearly half a million as of Monday noon pending reports from local government units. - GMANews.TV