PCD urged to hasten cleanup

The state pollution control agency must urgently draw up a rehabilitation plan for the lead-tainted Klity creek in Kanchanaburi province's Thong Phu Phum district instead of waiting for the waterway to recover naturally, environmentalists said.

The demand comes after the Pollution Control Department (PCD) was ordered by the Supreme Administrative Court last week to make a recovery plan for the waterway. It must also monitor the recovery implementation for a year until the lead drops to standard levels.





The contamination was blamed on the Lead Concentrate Co, which operated a lead mine nearby for 30 years. After winning a concession in 1967, the company was forced to shut down in 1998.

When the PCD found the creek was contaminated, it built a rock check-dam to screen out lead sediment. It said dredging the creek would have a negative impact and spread the lead-tainted sediment.

"PCD's method has already been proved by the court to not have worked over the past 10 years," Surapong Klongchantuek, a member of the Klity creek rehabilitation monitoring working group, said.

The group wants PCD to urgently draw up a recovery plan and allow locals to participate in the process.

PCD's director-general Wichien Jungrungruang said his agency would follow the court's order instructing the department to draw up a rehabilitation plan.

He added the department would organise a conference and invite environmental experts and local people to brainstorm and draw up a plan to revive the tainted creek. The conference is expected in the next two months.