The Department of Environment is expected to take action against 18 illegal chemical factories that have been found to be operating in the Pasir Gudang area.

Its director-general Norlin Jaafar on Thursday said so far, they had taken action against three factories in a series of joint operations with other agencies.

The three companies, located within a 3km radius, reportedly released high levels of gasses such as methyl mercaptan, acrolein and acrylonitrile.

On the checks on 257 factories, Norlin said at least 12 stop-work orders had been issued along with 60 notices and 136 compounds totalling RM270,000.

Read more at https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2019/07/18/doe-to-act-against-18-illegal-chemical-factories-in-pasir-gudang/