Negligence, recklessness led to power barge blast

By Jennifer P. Rendon,

Francis Allan L. Angelo,

and Joseph B.A. Marzan

 

Negligence and recklessness may have caused the explosion in a power barge afternoon of July 3, 2020, which resulted in an oil spill that affected Iloilo City, Guimaras Island, and the town of Dumangas, Iloilo so far.

“It’s negligence … recklessness,” Senior Superintendent Jerry Candido, Bureau of Fire Protection-6 regional director, said.

Based on BFP investigation, the explosion happened in Tank No. 1 of Power Barge 102, which is operated by Ayala-owned AC Energy Philippines.

The barge is stationed at Bo. Obrero, Lapuz in Iloilo City, a heavily populated area.

As of Sunday afternoon, or two days after the explosion, the Philippine Coast Guard said they have retrieved 189,000 liters of bunker fuel.

The barge contains 268,000 liters of bunker fuel and around 251,000 liters leaked out following the explosion.

The BFP probe indicated that power barge personnel were trying to replace bolts and nuts in Tank No. 1. Above the tank was the air vent where accumulated fumes from the bunker fuel pass through.

Instead of manually taking out the “defective” bolts and nuts, workers used an acetylene torch.

“You know, the only way for it to explode is for the heat to get inside the tank. And undoubtedly, the use of acetylene is a good source of ignition,” Candido explained.

Fire investigators recovered an acetylene tank, nozzle, and hose at the site.

“If there are hot works, like cutting operation or welding activities, it will surely create ignition and might cause explosion because the half-filled tank has accumulated fumes,” he said.

Candido said their role is to establish the cause of explosion.

“And apparently, negligence caused it,” he said, adding that AC Energy might face charges for reckless imprudence resulting in damage to property and injury as one of the barge’s personnel was injured during the explosion.

Candido said they will also hold AC Energy responsible for not securing a permit for the “hot works” activities.

“They did not set up precautionary safety measures considering that what they did was a hazardous operation,” he said.

When asked how many persons were involved in the hot works when the incident happened, Candido said they have yet to get a word from the firm.

“They are uncooperative. But we will send a demand letter for them to cooperate with the investigation on Monday (July 6),” he said.

If AC Energy still does not cooperate, Candido said they will charge them for obstruction of justice.

 

OIL SHEEN

As of Sunday afternoon, oil sheen and sludges were spotted in Brgys. Bo. Obrero, Lapuz and Mansaya, LaPaz in Iloilo City; Buenavista and Jordan in Guimaras and in Naluoyan village in Dumangas, Iloilo.

The City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (CDRRMO) confirmed that oil sludge was found in Sto. Niño Sur, Sto Niño Norte, Calaparan and Calumpang in Arevalo district. Oil sheen and sludges were also spotted in the waters of Molo district.

Lieutenant Commander Joe Luviz Mercurio, Philippine Coast Guard-Iloilo Station commander, said the oil slicks in Guimaras and Dumangas passed through the oil spill booms that they set up to control the spill.

Mercurio admitted that there’s much to be done but he assured that “we’re on top of the situation.”

“Recovery efforts are still going on,” he said, adding that major operations will be done with water-borne assets to be deployed to the coastal barangays affected by the oil spill.

Mercurio said they would be deploying three teams to coastline areas to skim bunker fuel that slicked through off Iloilo and Guimaras waters.

For now, the PCG could not assess the damage the oil spill has created.

“But we’re seeing damages on mangroves in the area,” he said.

As of Sunday afternoon, the Iloilo City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office said that 105 families composed of 378 individuals from the villages of Barrio Obrero in Lapuz district and Mansaya, La Paz were evacuated from their homes due to the fumes emanating from the bunker fuel.

Residents of Barangay Hoskyn in Jordan, Guimaras also complained of odor from oil sheens.

Meanwhile, residents and officials of Dumangas, Iloilo are gearing up for the possible effects of the oil spill.

Oil was spotted in the town’s shorelines at around 5:30 a.m. Sunday, according to Dumangas mayor Ronaldo Golez.

In a phone interview, Golez told Daily Guardian that he already met with municipal, provincial and regional officials to assess the situation and prepare the necessary equipment to prevent it from worsening.

The mayor said that all six coastal barangays and around 130 to 150 fisherfolk are affected by the oil spill.

He said that fishing activities, such as tangkop, saluran, panggal, and talabahan, among other activities, are the most affected.

He later called for assistance with materials such as old sacks, old clothes, old nets, and rice straws through his personal Facebook account.

“The spill has reached our town, that’s why I arranged for a meeting to monitor the situation and we’ve already identified the affected areas. We’re gathering materials to make oil spill booms, and maybe [on Monday] we can finish and place them,” Golez said.

He said that there was no need yet to evacuate residents living in affected areas.

“There’s no need to evacuate them yet. It’s not that serious, but bunker oil has been spotted in our shorelines. Right now what is important is that we contain the oil spill,” he said.

 

RESPONSE

In a statement issued Saturday, AC Energy Philippines said it has reached out to barangay and city officials and conducted needs assessment of the evacuees and affected residents for the procurement of needed goods.

The firm said it has completed the containment stage Friday night using multi-layered spill booms from PB 102, and additional layers from the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) and Petron.

Skimming or oil recovery operations also started Friday using the equipment of PB 102 and the PCG.  On Saturday morning, another oil skimmer equipment arrived from Shell Philippines and another one from PB 103 arrived on Sunday.

The clean-up stage has commenced with regular coordination meetings ongoing between PB 102, Philippine Coast Guard, Barangay Bo. Obrero, City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (CDRRMO), and Iloilo City Government.

AC Energy said it will also engage a reputable third-party firm to conduct a thorough investigation as to the root cause of the explosion that ignited the fuel gases inside the sealed tank.

“We have also established a team to closely coordinate with the Barangay for the needs assessment of the affected people so we can provide the needed support,” the company said.

Despite this, Mercurio said the firm will be facing numerous complaints over what happened.

But he said he could not go into details yet.