ISKANDAR PUTERI, July 25 — The Johor Fire and Rescue Department has given the “all clear” for any chemical contamination at the Second Link crossing, following yesterday’s accident where a trailer carrying a chemical tank plunged into the sea.
Iskandar Puteri Fire and Rescue Station Chief Mohd Faiz Suleiman said a detailed assessment by a Hazardous Materials (Hazmat) team confirmed that the trailer collision did not cause any chemical spills at the accident site or into the sea.
“The Johor Fire and Rescue Department’s Hazmat Special Team took air quality samples at the accident site using specialised detection equipment such as the FtiR Gasmet Detector and GFG Multi Gas Detector, and they found that the conditions at the location were safe,” he said in a statement today.
“Checks for the presence of bubbles, traces of oil, or changes in colour on the sea water’s surface also found no traces of chemicals.”
Mohd Faiz explained that by the time the Hazmat team arrived at the scene yesterday, the trailer carrying propylene glycol had already been towed away by PLUS Malaysia Berhad, which has jurisdiction over the Second Link crossing.
The recovery operation for the tank that fell into the sea was then handed over to the Marine Police Force and the Marine Department.
“After we ensured that the trailer’s tank had no rupture or leaks at the time of the incident, the vehicle was handed over to the police for further action,” he said, adding that the entire Fire and Rescue operation concluded at 11 pm last night.
The incident occurred yesterday when a trailer carrying a tank of propylene glycol, a non-hazardous chemical, collided with another trailer carrying sodium hypochlorite. The collision caused the propylene glycol tank to fall into the sea.
Both trailers, which were fitted with ISO (International Organisation for Standardisation) chemical tanks, were transporting the chemicals from Singapore to Malaysia.
The accident took place just one day after Malaysian and Singaporean emergency services had conducted a joint chemical spill simulation exercise at the very same location, designed to test their readiness for such incidents.
