JOHOR BARU, June 20 — The Johor Fire and Rescue Department deployed its specialist Hazmat (hazardous materials) team after detecting chemical contamination, believed to be caused by industrial waste, in Kawasan Perindustrian Maju Jaya in Kempas here today.

Kempas Fire Station Operations Commander and Assistant Fire chief Mohd Ridzuan Malek Rivan said that they were alerted after receiving a distress call regarding odour pollution in the area at 1.29pm.

He said 14 firemen with two Fire Rescue Tender (FRT) machines and Emergency Medical Rescue Services (EMRS) unit from the Kempas and Larkin fire stations were immediately dispatched to the scene.

"Upon arrival, the operations team found that there was indeed a strong odour emanating from a ditch located next to a factory.

"Further investigations led to the discovery of stagnant water that had a foul smell.

"The operations team then monitored the scene before requesting for assistance from the Johor Department of Environment (DoE),” Mohd Ridzuan said in a statement tonight.

He said the department’s Hazmat team was also called in to provide further assistance.

He said the Hazmat team, led by its chief Senior Fire Assistant Saifulbahri Safar, performed detection tasks and took samples together with Johor DoE officers.

"Preliminary results found that the ditch was contaminated with scheduled waste. The hazardous materials found were listed as acrolein, benzene, carbon dioxide, methane and ethylene oxide,” he said.

Mohd Ridzuan said the scene of the incident is now under the jurisdiction of the state DoE who will conduct follow-up operations.

He said the entire operation ended at 6.59pm.

In September 2021, it was reported that more than 30 residents from Kampung Baru Sri Aman in Seelong near Kempas were evacuated after two residents fell unconscious from inhaling pungent chemical fumes from a nearby river.

The cause of the fumes was later linked to petro-chemical waste that was dumped upstream.

Prior to that, Johor was hit by the Sungai Kim Kim toxic fume incident in 2019, which has been described as one of the worst air pollution in the country’s history.

More than a thousand residents, many of them schoolchildren, in Pasir Gudang were directly affected after chemical waste dumped into Sungai Kim Kim released toxic fumes into the air on March 7.

Later that year, the incident also led the Health Ministry to form a medical team to examine about 6,000 victims from the Sungai Kim Kim toxic fumes.