The National Environment Agency (NEA) and Johor’s Department of Environment today conducted an exercise to simulate an ‘accidental chemical spill’ at the Tuas Second Crossing.
In a statement, NEA said the exercise simulated the release of phenol from an isotanker, coupled with the release of nitric and sulphuric acids from damaged drums on both land and sea.
NEA chief executive officer Andrew Tan said the bilateral exercise underscored the strong cooperation between both countries in ensuring that agencies were ready to respond to any chemical spill on the Second Crossing in a coordinated and effective manner.
This was the eighth exercise conducted to test the operational effectiveness of the Emergency Response Plan (ERP) jointly developed by the two agencies, as part of the bilateral cooperation programme under the Malaysia-Singapore Joint Committee on the Environment.
The ERP deals with potential accidents involving the transportation of hazardous chemicals on the Second Crossing at Tuas.
Each year, about 110,000 tonnes of hazardous chemicals are transported between Malaysia and Singapore.
These include phenol, formaldehyde, toluene diisocyanate, ammonia, acids and alkalis.
So far, there has been no accident involving the transportation of hazardous chemicals by vehicles on the Second Crossing.
Nevertheless, it is important to hold this exercise to ensure the safety of commuters on the Second Crossing is safeguarded.
This will also enable the relevant emergency response agencies to take swift, effective response actions to minimise the consequences, in the event of an accident.
– Bernama
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