PUTRAJAYA – The Environment Department (DoE) has placed two air quality measurement tools at Sekolah Kebangsaan (SK) Meru, Klang, to monitor the aftermath of a thick smoke release following a fire incident at a paint processing factory in Meru Industrial Park yesterday.
Its director-general Datuk Wan Abdul Latiff Wan Jaffar, said that as of 8pm, the gas pollutant measurements conducted using the Portable Multigas Analyser with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy technology did not detect any toxic gases in the atmosphere.
“Nevertheless, periodic air quality assessments will continue until the situation returns to normal,” he said in a statement today.
He also said that the air quality monitoring station in the nearby area of Pandamaran, Klang, recorded an air pollutant index reading of 69 at 8pm, indicating a moderate level and below the limit set by the Malaysian Ambient Air Quality Standard.
Following the destruction of the raw material storage area on the premises, Wan Latiff said the DoE has also issued a directive for the cleanup and disposal of burnt chemical waste at licenced premises, while field assessments have found that the drains around the SK Meru area have been contaminated with green pigments.
He stressed that while the cleanup work was fully completed yesterday evening, monitoring of water flow from firefighting activities at the premises continued to ensure it was not channelled to drains outside the premises and did not affect water quality.
In the incident at about 6.20am yesterday, a paint processing plant at the Meru Industrial Park was destroyed in a fire and based on preliminary investigations, the fire involved the storage area of flammable raw materials containing organic solvents. – April 30, 2024