SHAH ALAM: An accident at KM 371.9 on the North-South Expressway (South bound) involving a trailer at the exit to Slim River, Perak last night led to a diesel and hydraulic oil spill that entered the highway's drainage system.
Selangor State Tourism and Environment Executive Council chairman Hee Loy Sian said that Lembaga Urus Air Selangor (LUAS) had been informed of the accident and oil spill by highway concessionaire PLUS at about 12.40am.
Based on the initial review, the pollutant will enter the Selangor area (Bernam River) through the Trolak River in Perak and can potentially cause disruption to the Bernam River Headworks Water Treatment Plant which is located approximately 22.7km downstream from the location of the accident with the flow time expected to be about roughly 15 hours.
"LUAS immediately went to the location to aid and assist the relevant authorities in carrying out immediate mitigation work," he said in a statement today.
Hee said checks revealed that four out of the eight hydraulic oil drums transported were broken, followed by a diesel spill from the trailer.
Following this, early preventive measures were already implemented by PLUS in putting sawdust on the surface of the road affected by the spill.
"Further checks by PLUS found that there was no flow of oil into the highway drainage system or the nearby river.
"LUAS has also placed sawdust along the area where the spill took place as an immediate measure for damage control.
"At the same time, PLUS is carrying out clean up work with immediate effect," he said.
Hee said that LUAS would continue to monitor the situation on site until clean up work is completed to ensure there are no left over spills and residue which could lead to pollution to the nearby river and water treatment plants in the state of Selangor.