No sufficient information regarding the recycling plant’s layout and what stored inside its buildings is shared with firefighters, prompting them to move back and forth to try to douse the fires, which have been sending toxic ash and smog to the environment and the air nearby for six consecutive days, spooking the residents
On the sixth day, the fire that first broke out at Win Process in Rayong’s Ban Khai district on Monday has not totally been extinguished yet. It keeps erupting sporadically due to some chemicals kept inside, especially at the 3rd building, which kept the chemicals including Aluminium dross that can spark fires at a low temperature or on contact with water, according to concerned agencies including the Pollution Control Department (PCD).
The PCD, which has been monitoring the situation, said the fire at the 5th building is apparently under control, but it still erupts sporadically underneath at the 3rd building due to Aluminium dross kept inside.
The Rayong Provincial Office reported that the firefighters tried using an F-500 foam fire extinguisher to douse the fires there, but could still not put them under control. So, they asked for help from the PCD to use its sophisticated device XRF to x-ray materials there to see what chemicals or metals were actually kept at the building so that they could apply more effective fire extinguishing techniques to extinguish it.
Some have told EARTH, which has been observing the situation since the beginning, that they have not been informed sufficiently about the buildings’ layout and what stored inside them.
As observed by EARTH, an anti-hazardous waste advocacy organisation, the fire grew out of the 5th building, which is the plant’s largest building and kept unknown chemicals and liquid both on the ground and underground and spread to other buildings including the 3rd one. At first, firefighters had apparently managed to put the fire at the 5th building down on Monday night, but it erupted again and continued until Friday, sending smouldering fire and smog around. The fire then also erupted at the 3rd building and continued so as well, the organisation noted.
According to the PCD, at least 12 toxic smog and vapours have been detected in a radius from 300 metres to seven kilometres in the two Tambons of Bang Butra and Nhong Bua, which have been declared a disaster zone (Ammonia, Hydrogen chloride, Toluene, M-Xylene, Formaldehyde, Hydrogen cyanide, Nitrous oxide, Methane, Sulfuryl fluoride, Methyl Mercaptan, Nitrogen dioxide, Phosgene). Some of them can acutely affect respiratory systems and cause eye and skin allergies, according to the agency.
EARTH’s director, Penchom Saetang, went to observe the situation today, said she was concerned about the impacts of the fires as the plant is close to the residents’ properties and smog was still sent out from the burned plant to the residents’ communities, exposing them to a long-term health risk.
Ms. Penchom said the area should be specially declared as a chemical waste disaster zone, not just simply a disaster zone as used to be due to the threat and the risk posed on their lives now. The residents should be evacuated from their areas temporarily and get their health checked along with medical treatment as they have been exposed to the toxic ash and smog for several days already.
Some firefighters told her that they could not extinguish the fires following insufficient information regarding the plant’s layout and what stored inside its compounds, Ms. Penchom added. The EARTH’s staff noted that the most at-risk building is the 5th building as nobody knows at this point what is down below the building’s floor. According to its earlier survey, the building’s underground was full of concrete pits containing chemical liquid and contaminated water of unknown chemicals, posing a high risk to the firefighters.
EARTH has pleaded for help from chemical experts nationwide to help in the task to save the residents as the operation throughout the week has proved that the state has failed to protect its citizens from hazardous waste incidents, it said.
PM visit
PM Srettha Thavisin went to inspect the situation today and conceded that the incident was severe although the fire was mostly under control because toxic ash and smog were still sent out to the communities nearby, affecting the residents. He instructed concerned agencies to expedite their work to put the situation under control and rehabilitate the residents. Burned chemicals and damaged properties in the plant must be cleared quickly and wrongdoers must be brought to justice.
He was told by the officials, however, that they have not yet been able to investigate the causes of the fire incident yet due to the smouldering and sporadic fires.
Industry officials are now suspecting arson to clear the mess at the plant as the prime cause of the fire as its pattern looks similar to the recent incident in Ayutthaya province, according to the Industrial Works Department’s chief, Julapong Taweesri. The department held a meeting with prosecutors today to discuss legal action against the wrongdoers, but no further detail was disclosed.
The speculation was first made public by the House Committee on Industry, which had rebuked industry officials concerned for their apparent sluggishness that enabled the apparent imitation behaviour of evidence tampering among hazardous waste recycling operators.
The chief said the plant was ordered by the court to clear its waste in 2021 but it claimed that it could not find a sub-contractor to do the work, resulting in the work delay until the plant caught fire on Monday.
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