ALOR SETAR: A glove manufacturing company was fined RM20,000 by the Kulim Sessions Court after being found guilty for discharging industrial effluent exceeding the limit into public drains on Sunday (March 3).
Judge Mirza Mohammad meted out the sentence after the company’s manager pleaded guilty to the offence when the charge was read before him.
Kedah Environment Department (DOE) director Sharifah Zakiah Syed Sahab said a Kedah DOE team which was conducting an enforcement visit on May 23, 2023 found the company discharging effluent into public drains.
"From 9am to 10.25am, the company which was operating in the Padang Meha industrial area was found discharging industrial effluent containing chemical oxygen demand (COD) with a concentration of 1280 milligrames per litre (mg/L) exceeding the limit of 80mg/L.
"For the offence, the company was charged under Regulation 12(a), of the Environmental Quality (Industrial Effluent) Regulations 2009 and can be punished under Regulation 32," she said in a statement here Sunday.
She said the sampling of the industrial effluent that came out of the last discharge point of the Industrial Effluent Treatment System (SPEP) owned by the company was conducted by Kulim DOE branch officers.
It is to ensure that the effluents released comply with the limits set under the Environmental Quality Act 1974.
She said the company had also been convicted in the Kulim court with a fine of RM10,000 for an offence under Regulation 4(2) of the Environmental Quality (Industrial Effluent) Regulations 2009 on Oct 12 2021.
The offence was committed when making changes to the SPEP without submitting a written notification to DOE. - Bernama
