Call For Environmental Assessments: Thailand

Call for environmental assessments

By Pongphon Sarnsamak,

Chularat Saengpassa

The Nation

Most wharves in Samut Sakhon and Ayutthaya have been found by authorities to be operating without compulsory environmental impact assessments.

"As for Samut Sakhon, I believe more than 80 per cent of the piers should be subject to a EIA," Worasart Apaipong, deputy director-general of the Pollution Control Department (PCD), said recently.

The law mandates an EIA for piers with over 1,000 square metres of space.

Worasart did not believe the Marine Department's report that only three of 50 Samut Sakhon-based piers would need to conduct an EIA. The report was submitted to the Senate committee on natural resources and environment.

"Clearly, the number must have been higher than that," he said.

The Marine Department should also check barges serving Samut Sakhon because they appeared to be overweight, he said.

"If they are over 500 gross tonnes, they must be subject to an EIA," he said.

Many barges carry coal and the sediments was threatening to pollute the water, he said.

The PCD will conduct random tests for coal sediment contamination in Samut Sakhon's Ta Chin River and Ayutthaya's Pa Sak River, where many coal piers were located.

People in Samut Sakhon have lodged numerous complaints with authorities about polluting coal-related activities, especially coal transportation. Their anti-coal feelings have intensified after one of the anti-coal activists, Thongnark Sawekjinda, was shot dead.

Most coal barges suck up water from the river to lower their height as they cannot pass under the bridges along the river. When they clear all the bridges, they drain the water back into the river. This effluent is contaminated by coal sediment, which could sink to the river bed and harm aquatic animals.

The PCD has no records on the amount of coal sediment that covers riverbeds and no study has been conducted on the impact from coal sediment on aquatic animals living on riverbeds.

"We might need to install closed-circuit television at the bridges along the Ta Chin and Pa Sak rivers to monitor the abnormal behaviour of each commercial barge," Worasart said.

Many barge operators claimed they were carrying agricultural produce, but in fact carried coal, he said.

The Marine Department should look into this problem, he said.

Coal-using factories in Samut Sakhon should also be watched closely because the province has already been declared a pollution-control zone, he added.

Arthit Wutthikaro, director-general of the Industrial Works Department, said factories must act responsibly and refrain from releasing waste or pollutants into the environment without treatment.

Governors and local authorities should also strictly protect the environment of their provinces.

"For example, they can use regulations to control the spread of coal dust in local areas," he said.

Nisakorn Kositratna, secretary-general of the Office of Natural Resources and Environmental Policy and Planning, said several regulations and laws control pollution from coal-related activities but the central and local authorities did not strictly enforce them to limit toxic discharges from coal manufacturers.

At least three agencies are in charge of pollution control from coal activities - the Marine Department, Industrial Works Department and local administration.

But they did not do their job in policing pollution such as coal dust released from ports or manufacturers located near communities in Samut Sakhon and Ayutthaya, he said.

"The black coal dust that spreads across these two provinces is a problem for local people. The local authorities didn't control pollution released into the environment after they gave permission to the manufacturers," she said.

"Personally, I think all port operators, especially coal port operators, must conduct an EIA as they are deemed harmful to the health and environment," she said." Coal dust is dangerous for people's health."

-- The Nation 2011-09-19