The Selangor Water Management Authority (Luas) has confirmed a palm oil residue spill following an accident between a palm oil tanker and fuel tanker at Km37.1 on the Karak Highway heading towards Kuala Lumpur this morning.
Luas said following the accident at around 8am, it had been communicating with highway concessionaire AFA Prime Bhd for immediate action to contain the pollutants.
“The palm oil residue is a potential pollution risk to Sungai Gombak, which supplies raw water to the Gombak water treatment plant located about 4km from the incident site.
“A Luas team immediately arrived at the location to conduct thorough inspections at the site and its surroundings,” it said in a statement.
Luas said the concessionaire had built a barrier in the highway drain to keep out palm oil residue, and spread sawdust on the road and affected areas.
It said further checks found that some palm oil residue had entered a stream flowing into Sungai Gombak.
“Luas immediately installed an oil boom at the confluence of the stream and Sungai Gombak to block more residue from flowing into the river.
“Luas also instructed the companies involved in the accident to immediately carry out cleaning work,” it said.
The agency said as of 2pm, suction work to remove palm oil residue from the highway drain had been completed.
“Subsequent overall cleaning of the drains and stream leading to Sungai Gombak is being carried out by the relevant parties.
“A Luas team will continue to remain at the site to closely monitor the situation until all cleaning works are fully completed. The situation is currently under control,” it added.
