A drain near Sungai Langat containing diesel oil and activated carbon is used to clear the pollutant.
Quick action taken by authorities on Wednesday afternoon prevented a possible oil pollution of Sungai Langat, Selangor.
Selangor Water Management Authority (Luas) in a statement said it received a report from Air Selangor on suspected diesel found in a public drain near Sungai Langat.
Preliminary investigations by Luas uncovered a smell that was similar to diesel in the drain and its source was allegedly the premises of a lorry workshop.
Oil waste was also found in a drain near the premises and samples were taken by Luas in four different locations – inside and outside the premises, upstream and downstream areas of Sungai Langat – while the Environment Department (DOE) took samples from the factory premises.
The odour pollution happened approximately 24km from the nearest water treatment plant (Semenyih 2) downstream.
Air Selangor put two bags of activated carbon into the drain near the premises to stop the oil waste from entering Sungai Langat.
The corrective action was executed in less than four hours of the reported incident and involved Kajang Municipal Council (MPKj), the National Water Services Commission (SPAN) and the police.
Steps were taken to ensure there was no disruption to the water supply.
Luas ordered the lorry workshop to remove any pollutants that could potentially contaminate the river and conduct an immediate clean-up so that the pollution would not recur.
This was enforced under Section 121 (1) of the Luas Enactment 1999. — REBEKAH TEO
