3 firms fined for illegally dumping toxic waste into public sewers

SINGAPORE – Three companies have been fined thousands of dollars for illegally dumping toxic and hazardous substances into sewers in Woodlands, Tuas and Pioneer.

This is an offence that risks harming workers maintaining the public sewerage system, damaging Singapore’s used water treatment facilities, and polluting the environment, national water agency PUB said in a statement on Monday.

Among the companies charged was membrane manufacturing firm Century Water Systems and Technologies, which had discharged into the sewers high concentrations of dimethylacetamide – a substance known to disrupt NEWater production when present in excessively high amounts – instead of engaging a licensed toxic industrial waste collector to properly dispose of it.

The company’s offence was discovered during a routine inspection at its premises in Woodlands on May 20, 2022. It was charged in February and fined $3,300.

Meanwhile, two toxic industrial waste collectors, Chem-Solv Technologies and NSL OilChem Logistics, were charged and prosecuted in November 2022.

Between May and September 2021, PUB’s online sensors detected abnormally high levels of prohibited volatile organic compounds in used water discharged from factories in Pioneer.

On Sept 6, 2021, PUB officers conducted a surprise inspection at Chem-Solv Technologies and found that greenish sewage was being discharged into public sewers.

Tests confirmed that the discharge contained eight types of banned organic compounds, PUB said.

It added: “The concentration level of one of these organic compounds, toluene, was dangerously high and could have posed a fire or explosion hazard in the public sewerage system.”

Chem-Solv Technologies was fined $8,500 and ordered to install additional monitoring sensors on its premises.

Separately, PUB’s sampling regime detected abnormally high levels of regulated substances such as heavy metals and boron in public sewers in Tuas between December 2021 and January 2022.

The agency traced these readings to NSL Oilchem Logistics’ premises, collected samples of the firm’s discharge and confirmed the presence of three heavy metals and boron beyond permissible levels.

NSL OilChem Logistics was fined $13,000 for its breach.

Mr Maurice Neo, director of PUB’s water reclamation (network) department, said: “Used water is a precious resource that is treated and recycled to produce NEWater, and our public sewerage system plays a key role in the reclamation process… To ensure that our operations, workers and the environment are fully protected, we will not hesitate to take enforcement action against any companies caught breaking the law.”