BFP: Naga gas depot violates Fire Code
THE chief of the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) ruled that the Petronas Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG) Terminal in the City of Naga, Cebu has violated fire safety standards.
In a ruling dated July 15, 2014, BFP acting head Chief Supt. Carlito Romero said that Petronas’s facility in barangay Langtad which has a capacity of over 4.5 million liters has to follow the safety distance requirements provided for by the Fire Code of the Philippines (RA 9514).
He ordered the fire marshall of the City of Naga to do a re-inspection of the plant to determine if they have complied with the 91 meter safety distance requirement between the LPG tanks and adjoining properties.
Pryce Gases Inc. (PGI) filed a case in September 2013 against Petronas for violation of RA 9514 and its implementing rules. It alleged that the Petronas facility failed to follow the safety distance required by law for LPG tanks with capacity of over 378,000 liters.
Lawyer Jennie Cabading of PGI considered the decision of the BFP central office as a triumph of the rule of law.
She implored Mayor Val Chiong of the City of Naga, “to cancel the illegal conditional business permit granted to Petronas and close its facility pending compliance with the order of the chief of the BFP.”
In reversing an earlier ruling of the BFP-7 Regional Dir. Ma. Luisa Hadjula, the Chief Supt. Romero said that the minimum safety distance set forth by the Fire Code, specifically on the distance of LPG container with respect to building or line of adjoining property that can be built upon “cannot be reduced by mere submission of fire safety analysis.”
A Nov 26, 2013 Inspection Report of BFP-7 signed by Hadjula had indicated that the Petronas tanks are 65.5 meters away from adjoining properties. She however justified the non-compliance saying that a fire safety analysis on the plant indicates that it is not a fire hazard.
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