Murky waters

Murky waters

Farmers accuse Better World Green of polluting their farming area, but the company says local farming techniques are at fault

SARABURI: Fifteen years ago, rice paddies covered large areas of tambon Nong Pla Lai in Saraburi's Kaeng Khoi district. But local farmers claim the water they used in the past for agriculture, bathing and cooking cannot be used for those purposes today.

Srivalin Boontap, 61, said a swamp used by residents has been a receptacle for wastewater from Better World Green Plc (BWG), the SET-listed industrial waste management company, for 15 years since the company was set up. One farmer spent hundreds of thousands of baht planting rice on 16 rai next to the swamp but could not sell the crop.

Ms Srivalin shows the water in the swamp. The source of the pollution very much remains a matter of intense debate.

"Government officials who come to inspect this area say rotten grass is the cause. But we local people know the real reason why our natural water source is polluted, as there is only one factory in this area," said Ms Srivalin.

She said BWG has tried to solve the problem by using EM balls, which have proved useless.

Ms Srivalin is a member of the tambon administrative organisation after serving as a village chief for 15 years.

She said the swamp is used by tens of thousands of people in three tambons.

Another 54-year-old farmer said her household had been planting rice and other crops since her grandparents' days.

"They [the company] are seeking to benefit from the misery of the villagers. They know that the director-general [of the Industrial Works Department] is coming for inspections, so they have everything prepared," said the farmer, who asked not to be named.

In the past, she used to plant vegetables, beans and corn after the rice harvesting season, which provided 20,000 to 30,000 baht a year in additional income. But now the crops cannot survive.

Now she owns 30 rai of land for planting rice, but the income she receives has dropped more than two-fold from before, when she earned more than 100,000 baht per year.

This is because the polluted water used to water the rice crops results in lower yields and quality, she said.

Sources also claim BWG has a history of using violence to sort out disputes.

More recently, the Supreme Administrative Court in March dismissed a case filed by a group of Saraburi villagers in 2007 against government officials for negligence after an operating licence for BWG was approved.

Nattapon Nattasomboon, director-general of the Industrial Works Department, said inspections last month found the company's treatment systems conformed to industry standards.

Nevertheless, he has asked the province to collect water samples to test whether or not BWG is the cause of the pollution.

BWG executive director Ekarin Luengviriya dismissed the claims, saying the company has a rain retention pool with a capacity of 50,000 cubic metres.

"We have to use a lot of water for our business anyway, so we try to keep as much as possible," he said, adding that the area is also surrounded by dykes.

He blamed agriculture as the cause of the pollution.

"When the rain washes away the fertiliser and pesticides into the water and you have no water circulation, then it just accumulates there," he said.

He threatened to file a defamation complaint in Saraburi if the water test results show BWG is not the source of the pollution.

Mr Nattapon said recent tests indicated that water in the area had a higher than average nitrogen level.

Tasanee Thongdee, BWG's corporate and marketing communications manager, also blamed the high nitrogen levels on farming, since the company has a water-treatment system at its factory.

She said BWG had already successfully defended itself against one lawsuit filed by protesters who brought in court officials to inspect its facilities.

Referring to claims that protesters had been hurt during a clash eight years ago, Ms Tasanee said it was in fact BWG's plant manager who suffered a head injury after being hit by a thrown rock. The perpetrator was arrested, she added.

Thailand has three industrial waste managements companies - BWG, Professional Waste Technology (1999) Plc (PRO) and General Environmental Conversation Plc (GENCO), all of them listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand.

The Industry Ministry owns 16.67% of Genco, chaired by Witoon Simachokedee, the ministry's permanent secretary. The ministry last month proposed regulations for cabinet consideration to set standards for soil and underground water contamination.

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