SHAH ALAM, May 5 — A recycling plant in the Mahkota Beranang industrial area, in Semenyih, is suspected to be the source of odour pollution detected in Sungai Semenyih two days ago.

State executive councillor for Public Health and Environment, Jamaliah Jamaluddin, said a Lembaga Urus Air Selangor (LUAS) inspection on May 3 detected an abnormal odour in the river, with a threshold odour number (TON) of two. The pollution is believed to have originated from the factory’s discharge.

She added that further LUAS inspections found a coloured discharge suspected to have been released directly into the drainage system, which then entered Sungai Kabul. The premises also reportedly failed to comply with licensing conditions under Selangor’s Zero Discharge Policy (ZDP).

“In response, LUAS implemented comprehensive prevention and immediate mitigation measures, as the pollution posed a risk to the operations of the nearest water treatment plants (WTP), specifically the Sungai Semenyih and Bukit Tampoi WTPs.

“LUAS immediately began recovery efforts in Sungai Kabul and surrounding areas by applying about 100 kilograms of activated carbon for deodorisation and initiating intensive odour monitoring in both Sungai Kabul and Sungai Semenyih,” she said in a statement today.

Jamaliah said that LUAS ordered the premises to cease discharges and to conduct immediate cleaning and control measures at the site and related areas.

She added that mitigation measures included pumping water from Pond B and Pond C under the Selangor Raw Water Guarantee Scheme (SJAM) to supply up to 770 million litres per day of raw water directly to the Sungai Semenyih WTP, ensuring uninterrupted supply.

“Sampling was conducted by LUAS at the affected locations within the premises and has been sent to the Department of Chemistry (JKM) for further analysis.

“LUAS has opened an investigation paper under Section 79(4) of the LUAS Enactment 1999 for the offence of polluting water sources, and Section 59 for failure to comply with licence conditions,” she said.

Jamaliah also said that LUAS monitoring at 8pm yesterday detected no abnormal odour in Sungai Semenyih and Sungai Kabul, and river conditions had returned to normal.

“SJAM operations ended at 8pm, and the Sungai Semenyih WTP has resumed normal operations using raw water from the river.

“Nevertheless, LUAS will continue to closely monitor Sungai Kabul and Sungai Semenyih to ensure there are no further pollution effects or risks to plant operations,” she added. — Bernama