CYBERJAYA: The National Water Services Commission (SPAN) wants the Selangor government and environmental authorities to investigate all businesses and factories involved in recycling plastic waste, specifically in areas affected by pollution, and generally in all high-risk areas.
The call follows an inquiry into a pollution incident in July, which resulted in a week-long water supply disruption in 1,140 areas of Selangor affecting 1,124,781 consumer accounts.
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The pollution was traced to a poly(methacrylic acid) chemical leak into Sungai Kuang, a tributary of the Selangor River Basin.
SPAN chairman Charles Santiago said Thursday (Dec 5) that the state government, Selayang Municipal Council and Environment Department (DOE) should inspect all auxiliary factories in the Kuang area to determine if they are improperly disposing of waste in Sungai Selangor tributaries.
He said action had been taken against a foreign business responsible for the pollution incident but other factories in the area were conducting similar operations.
"This year, SPAN recorded four out of 20 incidents of raw water pollution in Selangor that caused water treatment plants to shut down, including the Sungai Kuang incident," he told a press conference at SPAN headquarters here.
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On July 23, it was reported that more than 1,000 locations in seven regions in the Klang Valley experienced unscheduled water supply disruptions following the shutdown of four water treatment plants owing to odour pollution in Sungai Kundang and Sungai Sembah, Selangor.
Subsequently, a Chinese national business owner faced a hefty RM10mil fine and a mandatory prison sentence of up to five years for releasing chemical waste into inland waterways near the industrial area of Jalan Kampung Orang Asli in Kuang, Selangor.
He was later found guilty, sentenced to three months in prison, and fined RM240,000.
Santiago said the company involved (Company B) had rented the premises from a local company (Company A), which also operated two recycling operations within the same compound.
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Investigations showed that Company B, which only held a business licence, was illegally conducting plastic recycling activities using polymethyl methacrylate (PMAA), a solvent hazardous to health.
The pollution in Sungai Kuang in July was traced back to an estimated three tonnes of PMAA leaking from Company B's premises into the drains, which then flowed into a tributary, Sungai Lampan Yu.
Santiago noted that the inquiry also discovered that Company A had illegally diverted Sungai Lampan Yu to run through its compound.
The commission's findings, released on Thursday, showed that the local company with a valid business licence had allowed a sub-tenant to operate without the local authority knowing.
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The sub-tenant was also permitted to use Company A's approved environmental impact assessment (EIA) report without the DOE's knowledge or consent.
SPAN also proposed improvements and recommendations to strengthen enforcement by conducting physical inspections for all new applications and also for business license renewals.
The DOE was encouraged to make regular targeted inspections to ensure compliance with approved EIAs.
Commission members Derek John Fernandez and Datuk Mohd Azmi Ismail were also at the press conference.
