Ayala Land says PNP theory of methane gas blast unlikely

Ayala Land Inc (ALI), the owner of Glorietta 2 mall in Makati City, on Wednesday downplayed initial findings by police investigators that the explosion at the shopping mall was triggered by a mixture of methane gas and diesel fumes. In a press conference, ALI president and chief executive officer Jaime I. Ayala, quoting data from the company’s technical team, said there could not have been an accumulation of high methane gas levels in the mall’s basement since wastes coming from the mall only stays in the sump pit for less than 24 hours. Ayala also said there was nothing out of the ordinary with the mall’s sewerage system prior to the blast, contrary to police’s pronouncement that there was a leak that had to be fixed. "There is constant flow of mainly liquid wastewater from toilets into sump pit and onto city sewer. Wastewater entering the pit stays in pit for less than 24 hours. The usual decomposition process brought about by large amounts of solid matter in house septic tanks does not occur in this pit," Ayala said, reading from data supplied by the company’s technical team. In the press conference, Ayala also said there were no "reports or observations by maintenance personnel of any aberrations to the diesel tank", noting that the diesel fuel tank was last used during the last power outage in June. He also noted that the basement is well-ventilated. Ayala said the company is waiting for the results of investigations conducted by local authorities and foreign experts before it makes a final assessment on the mall explosion. The executive also declined to answer questions on the conditions in the site of the explosion saying they have been given “very limited access to site". Highly improbable As this developed, the the Philippine National Police (PNP) on the same day stood by its initial findings that the blast was triggered by a mixture of methane gas and diesel fumes. Director Geary Barias, chief of the National Capital Region Police Office and spokesman of the team investigating the blast, said in a news conference Wednesday at Camp Crame that they have basis to prove their initial findings. “My point is we have the indicators," Barias said, referring to the source of methane gas at the basement of Glorietta 2 that houses a diesel tank. He said the volatile gas might have been ignited by electrical switches, motor pumps or batteries. Still, ALI's study supported the opinion of Dr. Ernesto dela Cruz, chairman of UP Chemical Engineering Department, who said it was highly improbable that diesel fumes caused the explosion, contrary to the theory being pursued by police investigators. Dela Cruz said it was almost impossible to have an accumulation of diesel fumes in the mall basement, saying diesel will not evaporate until it reaches the temperature of 210 degrees Celsius which is hotter than boiling water. Also, Dela Cruz said that from what he saw from footages taken shortly after the explosion, the smoke emanating from the blast site was “white smoke". If it were a diesel explosion, the smoke should have been black, Dela Cruz said. Earlier in the day, Ayala Land officials accompanied representatives from the Makati City Engineering Office to conduct an inspection on the Glorietta malls to determine the structural soundness of the buildings. Victims honored QTV's Balitanghali reported that blast victim Jeffrey Burcer, who expressed readiness to give his account of the incident, also joined authorities in the inspection. Burcer said all he could remember after the explosion was that there was white smoke all over. Local and foreign bomb experts still conducting investigations in the scene of the explosion were asked to temporarily stop their investigation to give way to the inspection, the report said. Investigations resumed around 11 a.m. after the inspection. In another development, ALI set up a white tent near the exit of Glorietta 2- only meters away from blast site - where offerings of white flowers and candles were made in honor of the 11 fatalities in the blast. - GMANews.TV