PASIR GUDANG: The Department of Environment (DOE) and the Department of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) should issue a temporary suspension order to all factories and chemical plants operating in Pasir Gudang, said an expert.
While this move may cause factories to incur huge losses, it is also an option that will potentially help the government narrow down the cause of the recent ongoing air pollution affecting 111 schools in the district.
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), Chemical Engineering Department's Professor Datuk Dr Wan Ramli Wan Daud said the pollution in Pasir Gudang is possibly caused by past improper disposal of toxic waste through burying or concealing under the soil that has brought about the current air pollution.
He said past disposal methods, over time, could have caused underground water in the area to be saturated with residue of volatile toxic waste before it seeped through the ground to the surface to form the toxic fumes.
"The disposal of chemicals in Sungai Kim Kim is not the only source of toxic gas which the authorities have already dealt with. I suspect that there are chemical wastes buried in several parts of Pasir Gudang for years now," he said.
Wan Ramli, who is also a former Quantitative Risk Assessment (QRA) Consultant for the Oil, Gas and Petrochemical Industry said the government through the DOE and DOSH should issue a temporary suspension of operation to all factories and chemical plants for a start.
"This way we can ascertain if the toxic gases are actually being released from the factories or otherwise. Then they should revisit these factories' chemical discharge and disposal records at each plant to find any discrepancies and subsequently get the perpetrator," he said.
In his statement, he also revealed that he had conducted a QRA consultation on the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the proposed factories in Pasir Gudang back in the 1980s.
"Pasir Gudang was originally for small and medium-sized industries, but due to lack of response, the state government offered land to heavy industries such as the ones we have today.
"This is despite our QRA study that found it unsuitable for chemical plants, because any toxic leakages incidents could cause dangerous toxic and flammable gas pollution to nearby residents, it went ahead," Wan Ramli wrote.