PUB issues stop-work notice for company that illegally discharged dangerous chemicals into public sewer

SINGAPORE — A toxic industrial waste collection company was on Monday (April 23) served with a stop-work notice by the PUB after it was caught illegally releasing effluent containing dangerous chemicals — some of which are flammable — into public sewers on April 15.

The PUB said in a news release on Wednesday (April 25) that Cramoil Singapore Pte Ltd is the first company in Singapore to be issued the stop-work notice, which bars it from discharging any used water from its premises into the public sewer.

With the injunction, Cramoil must put in place specific measures within a month to treat its trade effluent, which contains dangerous or hazardous substances.

These include putting in place adequate treatment facilities, a quality monitoring system, closed-circuit televisions to monitor these treatment facilities and the colour of its trade effluent discharge, as well as rectifying its automatic used water sampler, which had been tampered with, the PUB added.

This was also not the company's first offence, the agency added, having been fined for 20 similar offences since 2010.

The PUB said on Wednesday that it will be pressing charges against the company under the Sewerage and Drainage Act for illegally discharging trade effluent containing dangerous or hazardous substances into a public sewer.

If convicted, the company could be slapped with a fine of up to S$100,000, as it is a repeat offender.

Cramoil was busted during PUB's overnight operations.

The industrial used water discharged from its premises contained 16 different types of prohibited volatile organic compounds (VOCs), many of them in dangerously high concentrations.

Some of these prohibited VOCs include Tetrahydrofuran, used as an industrial solvent; Hexane, which are used industrially for the formulation of glues for shoes, leather products, and roofing; as well as Methylene Chloride, also used as a solvent.

"At these levels, the VOCs can cause fires in the sewer pipeline and downstream Jurong Water Reclamation Plant," the PUB said.

Tests done on Cramoil's discharge also showed the presence of five kinds of metals and chemicals in concentrations that exceeded allowable limits.

"These toxic substances pose a danger to workers operating and maintaining the public sewerage system and can upset the used water treatment process," the agency said on Wednesday.