Thousands exposed to poison-spewing plant

How is it that the Sabah Department of Environment has allowed a hazardous medical waste incinerator to operate within 1km of a township?

KOTA KINABALU: The health of thousands of residents at a housing area near here is at risk from emissions from a bio-hazard waste incinerator plant operating practically at their doorstep.

Each day tonnes of medical waste from the city’s main hospitals is carted to the site and left in the open on the ground before being disposed.

With the incinerator site just a stone’s throw from the Lok Kawi township, well within the 1km buffer zone stipulated for such dangerous waste disposal facilities, residents who can smell the burning waste have been complaining of the stench for years without relief.

Now an environmental expert has backed up their concern and questioned how the government’s Department of Environment (DOE) had approved such a facility so close to a township and housing area without any protection.

Dr CY Vun, who is a member of the Environmental Action Committee (EAC) and Sabah Environmental Protection Association (Sepa), said it was highly unusual that the medical waste incineration firm had not been required to meet the mandatory standards set for the emission of pollutant smokes.

It is understood that the operator of the incinerator at the small and medium enterprise (SME) industrial estate in Lok Kawi near here started operations six years ago despite complaints about the pollutants from the residents.

EAC members conducted site inspections on Oct 22 and Nov 26 and discovered that the incinerator was not equipped with ash emission scrubber devices to prevent potential fallout from the plant.

Vun said the EAC team also found the plant did not have adequate storage for the large volume of infectious medical waste being transported to the plant from hospitals for incineration in violation of the government’s clinical waste disposal regulations.

“Why is the incinerator firm allowed to exist and continue operating for the past six years in a populated area?” he asked.

No buffer-zone

He said SME operators in the area, who have called for the closure of the incinerator, had approached the EAC and Sepa for assistance after their complaints against the incinerator operator were ignored by the government.

During the inspection, the EAC team interviewed SME operators and workers and also took photographs and video footage of smoke being discharged from the incinerator’s out-dated chimney as well as bags that contained the infectious medical waste placed uncovered on the ground.

The inspection calls into question the credibility of the EIA (environmental impact assesment) consultant that approved the incinerator so close to a highly populated residential area without considering the social economic and environmental impact.

There was also no effort made to get feedback and acceptance from the public prior to approving the site for the construction of the plant.

“The adverse consequences on the health of the people, especially at the Lok Kawi SME industrial area, working and living within the environment that may receive low level of various air contaminants on a daily basis are not known.

“Furthermore, inhalation of dioxins, furans, lead, mercury, and other unknown chemical combinations is known to have serious respiratory effects and can lead to chronic illnesses such as cancer.

“In this regard, the state government should order the closure of the incinerator at Lok Kawi industrial estate.

“It has no buffer zone. The plant could be emitting dioxins, furans, hydrogen chloride, lead, mercury and other unknown chemical compositions continuously from its chimney as it has no ash-scrubber device installed to purify the ashy smokes before being released into the air,” Vun said.

Too near residents

The Environmental Quality Act 1974 and Environmental Quality Clean Air Regulation 1978 explicitly prohibit the burning of “combustible materials, refuse and produce or waste except in an incinerator of such type and design as approved by the DOE director-general” within a one-km radius of an inhabited area.

Locating any incinerator and buildings within 1,000 metres of a residential area is strictly prohibited.

As such, the incinerator should not have been allowed to operate within the populated Lok Kawi industrial estate and the shophouses and housing estate located nearby.

Vun said the EAC team also discovered during the site inspections that barely 2,000 feet to the south-west of the incinerator is the populated Lok Kawi shophouses and housing estate.

He said the operators and workers of the SME industries there such as food processing factories, Desa hatchery, drinking water processing plant and the residents living in the surrounding area want the incinerator operation terminated immediately.

“During our site inspection on Nov 26, we saw bags containing clinical waste being simply placed in an open area and also along the pavement by the roadside leading to the incinerator,” said Vun.

Where are the EIA reports?

The EAC has urged the DOE and the EIA consultant to make available their reports of the incinerator’s daily operations.

“According to our sources, no EIA consultant conducted any interview or public forum on the setting up of the medical waste incinerator at the SME industrial estate some six years ago. But a permit was still given.

“How could the EIA report of the project have been approved by DOE director-general without the knowledge of the public? This is a public healthcare violation.

“The people living there have been victimised by the incinerator operator for the past six years.

“This is unacceptable… it’s a show of disrespect to human rights, apart from being bad business ethics by the operator, who is originally a branch from a peninsula-based public listed company,” said Vun.

During the interviews, residents, SME operators and workers have complained of noxious fumes at their workplace, especially between 8am and 12 noon and sometimes the whole day until 10pm.

“During our survey we recorded daily emission of black smoke from the incinerator’s chimney,” said Vun.

“People living near the incinerator are particularly at a high risk. Studies conducted during research on animals (located near such plants) also showed that toxic substances (emitted from such incinerators) can alter hormone systems and foetus development,” he added.

State government wants immediate report

Meanwhile, the state government has said that it was unaware that the incinerator plant was operating contrary to environmental regulations.

State Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Masidi Manjun said he had directed the Sabah DOE federal director to explain why approval was given for the incinerator to operate so close to the vast suburban township.

“Obviously, the report is cause for concern. I will ask him (DOE director) to give me a full report and then we will take it from there,” he said.

He added that if the operation is against certain provisions of the law, then the state will ensure that the application of the law is complied with, irrespective of who the operator is.

“And, if it is the government, they should be the first ones to comply with the relevant law(s). I can assure you, government department or not, the same law applies (to all),” he said.