THE ODOUR pollution detected in Sungai Semenyih on Thursday (June 23) has been traced to a palm oil processing factory.
In a statement on Thursday, Selangor Tourism, Environment, Green Technology and Orang Asli Affairs Committee chairman Hee Loy Sian said investigations by the Selangor Water Management Authority (Luas) found that there was an overflow from a sump in the factory into a drain that flowed into Sungai Rinching.
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He said Luas placed four bags of activated carbon near the sump and instructed contractors to extract the pollutants from the drain and sump.
This managed to prevent shutdown of the Semenyih Water Treatment Plant (WTP) and any water supply disruption.
"It is estimated that the distance between the source of pollution and the Semenyih WTP inlet is 16km.
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"Water samples were collected from the sump and the premises as well as from Sungai Semenyih and the Semenyih WTP inlet for analysis," said Hee, adding that Luas is conducting static sampling near the Kg Teras Jernang bridge every 30 minutes.
He said until noon on Thursday, no pollution had been detected at the Semenyih WTP inlet.
Luas has lodged a police report on the matter.
Hee said an odour test on the sample showed it was the same as previous pollution incidents.
However, he said there was no strong evidence to link the factory to the previous incidents.
"Luas instructed the factory management to do immediate control measures and cleaning at the site under Section 121(1) of the Luas Enactment 1999," he said.
