S'pore remains unaffected by chemical spill incident in Pasir Gudang: Authorities

SINGAPORE — Singapore's air and water quality remains safe, and its water supply is unaffected by the chemical spill incident at Sungai Kim Kim in Pasir Gudang, Johor, the Republic's authorities said on Sunday (March 17).

The Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA), the National Environment Agency (NEA), PUB and the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said in a joint statement that they have been closely monitoring the incident since reports of it first surfaced on March 7.

NEA said ambient levels of volatile organic compounds such as benzene in the north-eastern region remain safe.

It added that the 24-hr Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) since March 6 has been in the good to low-moderate range, while the 1-hr PM2.5 readings have remained in Band I (normal).

"While NEA has received feedback on smells over the past few days from about a dozen members of public daily, these are not from any particular region of Singapore," the agency said.

NEA said it has not detected any unusual variation in the water quality in the Straits of Johor. Compounds Malaysia has identified in the chemical waste dumped in Sungai Kim Kim, such as benzene, acrylonitrile and acrolein, are also not detected in water samples taken from Pulau Ubin.

NEA has not detected any anomalies in the quality of the waters of Singapore’s recreational coastal beaches.

AVA’s tests of seafood samples from fish farms located north of Pulau Ubin have also not detected any anomalies.

PUB said it has been closely monitoring water quality along the Johor River and our local waterways and reservoirs.

"PUB assesses that the incident has no impact on our water supply as the chemical spill location is outside of the Johor River catchment area, where part of our water supply comes from. The water quality of our inland waterways and reservoirs in North and North-eastern Singapore is also unaffected," the agency said.

The SCDF and NEA are in contact with their respective Malaysian counterparts — the Johor Fire and Rescue Department and the Johor Department of Environment — to get regular updates on the situation.