IPOH, Sept 3 — The Department of Environment (DOE) has collected industrial effluent samples from a manufacturing factory as part of its investigation into alleged river pollution after fish and crabs were found dead in Sungai Sitiawan.

The department said the samples were taken at the premises’ final discharge point to allow investigators to compare them with water samples collected from the river.

“Industrial effluent samples were taken at the final discharge point of the premises. This is to enable the matching of samples from the premises with the river water samples,” it said in a statement today. 

During an inspection of the factory, the DOE said its investigation team identified a malfunction involving a blower valve at the factory’s Sewage Treatment Plant (STP).

However, sewage effluent samples could not be collected as the flow rate at the time was very low, at 0.583 cubic metres per hour, it said.

The DOE said it received information about dead fish being discovered in Sungai Sitiawan at 9.57am on Aug 30.

Investigations were subsequently carried out at three locations — Wak Dol Jetty, D’ Chalet accommodation and Tanjung Uda River Resort.

“At the complaint locations, several fish and other aquatic life were found dead and floating on the surface,” the DOE said.

It said small fish were found at Wak Dol Jetty, while larger fish were found dead at the D’ Chalet location.

The department also conducted in-situ testing and collected water samples from all three locations for further analysis by the Chemistry Department Malaysia.

The in-situ tests recorded dissolved oxygen readings of 5.86mg/L at Wak Dol Jetty, 3.79mg/L at D’ Chalet and 1.59mg/L at Tanjung Uda River Resort.

The DOE said it would await the analysis of the river water and industrial effluent samples by the Chemistry Department Malaysia before determining further action.

“Legal action will follow depending on the results of the analysis of the samples by the Chemistry Department Malaysia,” it said.

The department added that it would continue monitoring the situation and conduct enforcement inspections on nearby premises that could potentially be responsible for polluting the river.