Johor’s industrial facility cause of smell in Singapore

SINGAPORE: An industrial facility in Pasir Gudang, Johor was the source of a smell nuisance here last Monday, according to the Singapore National Environment Agency ( NEA) yesterday.

In a statement here, NEA said it had contacted its counterpart in Malaysia, the Department of Environment ( DOE), on the same day, to seek its assistance.

“TheDOEhasdeployedresources in identifying the source of the smell. It has traced the source to an industrial facility in Pasir Gudang, and is taking action against the operator,” it said, adding that it would continue to monitor the republic’s air quality levels.

In the afternoon of Sept 25, the NEA and the Singapore Civil Defence Force ( SCDF) received calls from the public providing feedback on a strong gas smell detected at various locations of Singapore, particularly in the north- eastern part of the republic.

The statement said NEA and the SCDF immediately sent their teams to carry out investigations and ambient air quality measurements at the locations reported.

NEA’s investigations included checking factories in affected areas, and other possible sources of gas and chemical leaks.

NEA and the SCDF did not find any abnormal factory operations or incidents in Singapore that could have caused the gas smell experienced, said the statement.

During the period when the smell was reported, NEA said winds were light and there was also some convergence of winds over the northern half of Singapore.

“This might have led to an accumulation, and slow dispersion of smell in that area,” it said. — Bernama