Toxic waste company Cramoil to be charged for discharging hazardous substances into public sewers

Channel NewsAsia 25 Apr 18;

SINGAPORE: Toxic industrial waste collection company Cramoil Singapore will be charged for discharging wastewater with hazardous substances into public sewers, said national water agency PUB in a media release on Wednesday (Apr 25).

It has also been issued a stop-order, meaning the company can no longer discharge used industrial water from its premises into the public sewage system.

This is the first time that PUB has issued such an order. It was served to Cramoil Singapore managing director Tan Kim Seng on Monday and took effect immediately.

PUB said the company was on Apr 15 caught in the act of discharging industrial used water containing hazardous Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC), like benzene and heptane, into the public sewer at its premises at 4 Tuas View Lane.

Tests found that the industrial used water discharged contained 16 different types of prohibited VOCs, said PUB.

"The concentration levels were dangerously high. At these levels, the VOCs can cause fires in the sewer pipeline and downstream Jurong Water Reclamation Plant," it added.

In addition, five kinds of metals and chemicals in concentrations that exceeded the permitted limits were found, said PUB, adding that the toxic substances pose a threat to workers maintaining the public sewerage system. It can also "upset the used water treatment process," the agency added.

In its overnight checks, PUB also found that Cramoil's used water sampler to monitor industrial used water waste had been tampered with.

This is not the first time that the company has landed in hot water. Since 2010, the company had committed 20 offences of discharging toxic wastewater into the public sewer. The company has been fined a total of S$52,500.

If found guilty of the latest offence, Cramoil Singapore could be fined up to S$100,000.

"PUB does not condone any blatant disregard of our regulations on illegal discharge of trade effluent, and anyone who willfully causes harm and danger to our public sewerage system," said PUB's director of water reclamation network Maurice Neo.

The stop-order will be in place until PUB is satisfied with the measures the company must put in place within a month of the order.

These measures include having adequate treatment facilities, a quality monitoring system, as well as CCTVs to monitor treatment facilities and the colour of its trade effluent discharge.

Source: CNA/aa/(gs)


PUB issues stop-work notice for company which illegally discharged dangerous chemicals into public sewer
Today Online 25 Apr 18;

Cramoil Singapore, a repeat offender, is the first company here to be issued a stop-work notice

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.