THE Selangor Water Management Board (Luas) received information about diesel-like odour pollution of up to three tons detected at the river monitoring station (RMS) in Section 3, Bangi, at 11.15am yesterday.

In a statement released last night, tourism, environment, green technology and Orang Asli affairs standing committee chairman Hee Loy Sian today said the incident was reported by Pengurusan Air Selangor Sdn Bhd (Air Selangor).

He said Luas, the National Water Commission (SPAN) and Air Selangor were investigating several locations to identify the source of pollution.

“Luas has activated the ‘yellow code’ based on the water resources pollution emergency manual for a thorough investigation into the area upstream of the inlets, which is at risk of causing the shutdown of the Semenyih 2, Bukit Tampoi and Labohan Dagang water treatment plants.

“The estimated distance of the pollution location from the inlets is 6.63km, 18km and 31.9km respectively,” he said.

He said several potential sources of pollution had been investigated by Luas in Sungai Balak and odour test sampling recorded odours up to two tons, while in Sungai Sekamat and upstream of Sungai Langat, no pollution-related findings were detected, with the odour reading at zero tons.

He said as of 5pm, there was no more oil-like odour around Sungai Balak.

“Meanwhile, Luas is also conducting static monitoring and sampling around the Kampung Teras Jernang Bridge with odour test sampling conducted every 30 minutes and readings obtained were around two tons, as of 9pm, there was no contamination at the treatment plant inlet area,” he said.

Hee said Luas and Air Selangor were still investigating the cause, while Luas had increased sampling frequency in Sungai Langat to every 30 minutes (from one hour) to closely monitor the status.

He said round the clock static monitoring and Luas patrols in the Sungai Langat area were carried out to ensure such incidents did not recur and any pollution could be prevented before it entered the water system.

He said Luas would intensify 24-hour monitoring operations at major river basins to ensure that pollution incidents did not affect treatment operations. – Bernama, June 10, 2022.