PUB fines 38 companies for illegally dumping wastewater in sewers
National water agency PUB has prosecuted 38 companies, including BreadTalk, in the last year for illegally dumping wastewater containing chemicals into public sewers.
Among these companies, 18 were repeat offenders and given harsher penalties, the agency said yesterday.
Of the repeat offenders, BreadTalk and Tat Seng Packaging Group, a printing and packaging manufacturer, got the highest fines of $16,300 and $14,100, respectively.
The offences by the various companies over the illegal discharge of trade effluent, or liquid waste created by businesses, were discovered during site inspections as well as PUB's surveillance of the public sewerage system, the agency said.
The 38 companies were prosecuted from June 2018 to May this year and fined a total of $253,700.
BreadTalk was prosecuted for discharging wastewater containing regulated substances exceeding allowable concentration limits into the public sewer in June 2016 and April 2017.
PUB added that BreadTalk had six previous charges related to three instances in 2014 - on June 4, Oct 1 and Nov 27 - and was fined $19,000 over them.
Referring to the repeat offenders, Mr Maurice Neo, PUB's director of water reclamation network, said: "(They) have been placed under PUB's surveillance watch, where we are monitoring their trade effluent discharge closely and will step up the frequency of inspections at their premises."
Under the Sewerage and Drainage Act, illegally discharging trade effluent containing dangerous or hazardous substances into the public sewer carries a fine of up to $50,000 for the first offence and a maximum fine of $100,000 for repeat offenders. - ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY GOH YAN HAN
Get The New Paper on your phone with the free TNP app. Download from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store now
