SHAH ALAM, The odor pollution detected in several rivers in Selangor since yesterday is believed to have been caused by a factory processing acrylic materials for recycling, said State Public Health and Environment Committee chairman Jamaliah Jamaludin.

She said that checks by the Selangor Water Management Board (LUAS) and related parties found that effluent from a leaking tank had caused a substance, believed to be scheduled waste polymethacrylic acid (PMAA), to overflow into drains and ditches up to Sungai Kuang.

Jamaliah said that spillage of material also entered the nearby rivers, with the LUAS static team detecting an odour measuring 3 TON (Threshold Odour Number) in Sungai Kundang at 1.30 am and in Sungai Sembah at 4.30 am today.

‘LUAS has ordered the premises to stop the discharge and carry out cleaning works immediately, as the negligence poses a risk to nearby water treatment plants (WTPs), including Rantau Panjang WTP, located 29.61km away, and SSP1, SSP2, and SSP3, located 34.02km away,’ she s
aid in a statement here today.

According to Jamaliah, LUAS is actively carrying out mitigation measures in the affected rivers by increasing the application of activated carbon (AC) for deodorisation, implementing dilution works and water pumping to accelerate the flow of polluted materials past the plants’ intake area.

Following the incident, she said LUAS has opened an investigation paper under Section 79(1) of the LUAS Enactment 1999, adding that and the parties involved are also facing enforcement action from the Department of Environment and the Selayang Municipal Council.

Air Selangor announced earlier that seven regions, namely Petaling, Klang, Shah Alam, Gombak, Kuala Lumpur, Hulu Selangor and Kuala Selangor, were facing unscheduled water supply disruptions due to the temporary shutdown of four WTPs following an odour pollution incident at Sungai Kundang and Sungai Sembah.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency