Textile plants spew raw waste, says DOE
By TAN CHENG LI
KUALA LUMPUR: Nearly all textile factories involved in dyeing and bleaching operations have been found to discharge untreated or partially treated waste.
Of concern was the risk of water supply contamination as several of them were located above water intake points.
Department of Environment control officer Jalaluddin Ismail said yesterday of the 64 recorded to be discharging effluents, only 40 were equipped with treatment plants.
"Of the 40, only 14 complied with the Environmental Quality (Sewage and Industrial Effluents) Regulations 1979 while the discharges from 26 failed to comply with parameters such as colour and chemical oxygen demand," he said.
Jalaluddjn was concerned with the remaining 24 factories.
"It is worrying that effluents from five of these factories must meet Standard A as they are located upstream of rivers in Selangor and Malacca,"
(Standard A requires effluents to meet higher standards and is imposed on factories located above water intake points.)
He said the DOE had always advised local authorities to allow only factories with "dry operations" which do not discharge effluents. above water intake points.
Source : The Star, July 2 1993
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