ALOR STAR: The Department of Environment (DoE) has slapped a temporary shutdown order on a rubber glove plant in Mergong Barrage, here after it was found to have discharged blue-coloured effluent into the public drain.
Kedah DoE director Sharifah Zakiah Syed Sahab said the pollution was detected by its enforcement team during a routine inspection on Thursday.
"The team then tracked down the pollution to a manufacturing plant, about 70m away, which had released blue-coloured effluent directly into the public drain without treatment.
"Samples were collected and sent to the Chemistry Department for analysis," she said in a statement today.
She added that further investigation at the plant revealed that the effluent's colour came from a blue pigment used during operations, and that the effluent had been discharged without proper treatment.
The department has also issued an Equipment Operation Ban on the factory while the cleaning equipment has been seized.