A friend informed that there were lots of black and blue drums accumulated at the corner of Seletar West Link near where the Seletar North Link bridge starts.
'X' marks the spot :
Initially, it was assumed that these had dumped there. The area looks like it has been neglected for long time.
'X' marks the spot :
There is a small but thick patch of mangrove along the shore here. However, there are also quite a few makeshift buildings and wooden piers along the stretch. Some of these are in various states of disrepair. It appears that these makeshift buildings and piers serve the surrounding fishfarming and fishing community. The drums are used as cheap floatation tools.
However, the worrying thing is that some of these drums had contained various types of flammable and
However, the worrying thing is that some of these drums had contained various types of flammable and
otherwise concentrated chemical liquids in them.
there were all sorts of warning labels on them
the one below obviously contained concentrated yellow ink manufactured by Fujifilm. Concentrated photographic chemicals or printing inks are not known to be very environmentally friendly.
a close up (click for larger pic) of the FujiFilm Gekko Yellow Ink caution label -
"this product contains a biocide at <500ppm which is very toxic to aquatic organisms. However, at the concentrations present in this product, adverse environmental effects from the biocide component are not expected due to the dilution of the biocide by other product components. Discarded product may be a hazardous waste under RCRA. TCLP should be completed prior to disposal. Empty container retains product residue. Observe all hazardous precautions. Do not distribute, make available, furnish or reuse empty container except for storage or shipment of original product. .."
!
There was a patch of ground a feet away stained by various colours.
Looks like someone had emptied the residual ink onto the ground.
I wonder if the ink companies know where their ink ended up? Did they dispose of their containers properly? or entrusted them to a professional waste disposal company?
Some drums had an "NEA-Licensed Contractor - Purechem Veolia Environmental Services" sticker pasted on them. Perhaps Purechem Veolia has been tasked to professionally dispose of the residual contents before getting rid of the drums. I wonder how these drums ended up at this corner of Singapore....and how the ink ended up on the ground. There was no data written or printed on the stickers indicating the who-what-when-or whether the contents had been 'hazardous waste'.
The access holes on some of the drums were stuffed with thin orange-coloured plastic bags. Was this to stop the contents from leaking out? I wonder if the containers had been washed before being released for 're-cycling' in this way. Do all of Singapore's offshore fishfarms use such drums as a floatation supports? Where do they get their drums from? And have those drums been 'professionally cleaned' before use in a floating fish pen?
one of the makeshift floating pontoons being built close to the shore
a close up of the drums being used as a base layer for the makeshift pontoon.
There were quite a few of these pontoons offshore just beyond the mangroves and they seemed to be used for various purposes by fishermen. Some looked like storage pontoons whilst others looked adapted for accomodation and one even as an outhouse! A direct launch toilet in Singapore?
Omigosh!!! Sulfuric Acid 96%!!! That's super corrosive!
another blank Purechem Veolia sticker on another container ...with no disposal data on it.
another pile of chemical containers...at one of the many makeshift 'huts'
on the edge of the mangrove patch.
and even more large drums waiting to be used at another establishment.
If (when) there is seepage from these drums, it is likely that the chemicals will be directly introduced into the surrounding environment....apart from that already poured out onto the ground at the edge of the mangrove. This should not be how these chemical containers are professionally disposed of or made available for re-cycled use by the fishfarming or any associated community.
Does your fish taste funny?
There was a recent announcement of a mangrove trash study being conducted by the National Parks Board at Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve. See this link for more information. Perhaps the study should also take into account pollutive factors introduced by the fishfarming community where such greenwashed chemical drums are used. There are many fishfarms located just offshore from SBWR.
