Map Ta Phut blue stream raises fears

A small stream that turned vividly blue for a few hours in the industrial Map Ta Phut sub-district of Rayong province raised environmental concerns on Wednesday.

The strange colouring occurred in a small public waterway in Ban Nong Fab community of Muang Rayong district's Map Ta Phut sub-district at about 10am. The area houses the giant Map Ta Phut Industrial Estate which has been subject to incidents of pollution many times in recent years.

Representatives of the village, Map Ta Phut municipality and PTT Global Chemical Plc went to the scene to see the blue water flowing from drains near Wat Nong Fab and Ban Nong Fab School.

Itthi Jaemjaeng, head of Ban Nong Fab community, said the blue water did not emit any unusual smell and it disappeared within two hours before local people could trace its source. He asked officials of the Industrial Estate Authority of Thailand to collect water samples for testing.

Prateep Engchuan, director of IEAT's Rayong branch, said he did not think the water was discharged from any factory inside the MapTa Phut Industrial Estate because plants there were connected to the estate's central wastewater treatment facilities.

www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/434044/map-ta-phut-stream-turns-blue-raises-fears