Officials from the Industrial Works Department have found what they suspect is industrial waste, buried in a landfill next to the warehouse of the Win Process recycling plant in Ban Khai district of Rayong province.
With the help of neighbourhood residents, who pointed out the suspect landfill, officials used a backhoe to excavate.
Three holes were dug and the officials found waste, which emits a very strong odour. They took samples to be tested in a laboratory, to determine whether the waste is aluminium dross or other chemicals.
Many used car tires were also found in one of the holes.
It is suspected that Win Process did not recycle industrial waste, of which it took deliveries from other factories in the industrial estate, but merely buried it, resulting in toxic substances seeping through the ground and into natural waterways.
Win Process company’s top executive, Opart Boonchan, has already been charged by police in Phachi district of Ayutthaya for falsifying documents relating to industrial waste stored at its warehouse in Phachi district.
Opart has denied all the charges against him. He was granted bail by the court in Ayutthaya on May 31st, but was booked by Ban Khai district police on charges of illegally storing dangerous chemicals at its warehouse in the district, which was damaged by fire in April.
The fire prompted Industrial Works Department officials and police to launch an investigation into the Win Process company’s operations.
The Industrial Works Department ordered the shutdown of the Aek Uthai company’s recycling facility in Klang Dong district of Nakhon Ratchasima in February.
Win Process is also believed to be linked with the Aek Uthai company, which also has a recycling facility in Klang Dong in Nakhon Ratchasima.
