These plants will not receive permission to initiate any projects unless they cut toxic emissions and improve all production processes in accordance with Pollution Control Department standards, said director-general Ratchada Singalavanija.

IRPC is expected to spend more than Bt7 billion on its 25 facilities in order to get pollution emissions down to the required level, he added.

The plans for reducing pollution will be in line with the action plans for plants within the Map Ta Phut zone.

They target to plug leakage of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and cut 20 per cent of total emissions of sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxide and dust by next March.

The Industrial Works Department has identified 118 points outside Map Ta Phut where VOCs are seeping out from most facilities.

The department has nine steel plants located along Takuan Canal under its supervision. The canal has turned red for almost two years, due to anti-rust chemicals discharged by the steel plants.

It cannot verify which plant released the chemical, but it has prosecuted Tycoon Worldwide Group (Thailand), a listed steel-maker and one of the nine monitored plants, for draining wastewater into the river.

Ratchada said his department would also close the waste management company for Tycoon, but declined to reveal the name of the operator.

The department will spend Bt10 billion this year on drawing up specific pollution-control standards for each industry in order to solve the problem of overlapping guidelines.

It will start with 18 industries this year, including cement, paint, metal, textiles and tanning.

It has also launched a project to upgrade 135 small-and medium-sized factories in Bangkok, focusing not only on the production process but also human resources and the environment.

Chalida Ekvitthayavechnukul

The Nation