Pollution upstream has affected operations at two water treatment plants along Sungai Semenyih since yesterday, leaving more than 300,000 Selangor consumers without water supply. It is still unknown when water supply will be restored.
In a statement today, the ministry said a multi-agency team of senior officers found waste and organic compounds in bushes at the fringe of the industrial area.
“A stream near the site, where the waste was dumped, leads to Sungai Semenyih.
“The stench of the waste is almost identical to that which caused the Sungai Semenyih water treatment plants to suspend operations yesterday,” said the ministry.
The ministry said six soil samples had been taken by Negeri Sembilan’s Department of Environment (DoE) for tests.
The Seremban City Council and the Solid Waste Management and Public Cleansing Corporation will clean the bulk of the waste at the location today. The area has been cordoned off and is currently being monitored by the police.
The ministry suspects that an unlicensed company is behind the dumping of the waste and said that investigations will be conducted by the police, SPAN and the DoE into the matter.
The Sungai Semenyih and Bukit Tampoi water treatment plants suspended operations yesterday after detecting pollution in Sungai Semenyih — the raw water source for both these plants.
Earlier, Bernama quoted Selangor Environment, Green Technology, Science, Technology and Innovation and Consumer Affairs Committee chairman Hee Loy Sian as saying a major clean-up at a duck and goose farm beside Sungai Pajam in Negeri Sembilan was believed to be the source of the odour pollution in Sungai Semenyih and Sungai Langat.
He said this followed pollution detected from organic substances, such animal carcasses, and not from petroleum.
Apart from that, he said other sources were suspected to be from the Nilai 3 Industrial Park.
Hee spoke to reporters when witnessing the pumping of water from Tasik Idaman, Sungai Buah, into Sungai Semenyih to dilute water in the river today.
Selangor Menteri Besar Amirudin Shari had yesterday said the source of the pollution was detected 30km away from the Sungai Semenyih water treatment plants in Sungai Batang Benar, Negeri Sembilan.
This was the second unscheduled water cut in Selangor after pollution detected in Sungai Gong, Rawang, caused a similar disruption of water supply for several days in early September.