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View all search resultsTangerang river cleanup begins after toxic spill
As of Friday, Tangerang disaster authorities have released 1,500 liters of eco-enzyme while South Tangerang has launched its own cleanup operation using activated carbon, in an effort to remove toxic chemicals from the Cisadane and the Jalentreng rivers following a fire at a pesticide warehouse last week.
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Collateral damage: A fisherman pulls in a net beyond a pile of fish carcasses on Thursday along a bank of the Cisadane River in Tangerang, Banten. The Environment Ministry said liquid pesticide pollution flowed from the Jaletreng River into the Cisadane River for about 22.5 kilometers, causing the deaths of various aquatic species. (Antara/Putra M. Akbar)
T
he administration of Tangerang city in Banten started cleaning up the Cisadane River on Friday after the waterway was contaminated by a massive pesticide spill last week.
Since Feb. 13, the Tangerang Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) has released a total of 1,500 liters of eco-enzyme into a large stretch of the Cisadane that was polluted early last week, when toxic runoff spilled into the river from a burned-out pesticide warehouse in neighboring South Tangerang.
“The eco-enzyme we use is a fermented organic compound that is environmentally friendly and often used to help decompose pollutants in water bodies,” BPBD Tangerang acting head Mahdiar said on Friday in a press statement from the city administration.
Mahdiar said authorities were using boats to release the eco-enzyme into the river as well as to remove fish carcasses and floating debris.
The Banten Environment Agency said separately that the cleanup would take two weeks, Antara reported.
A preliminary investigation by the Environment Ministry found that the water used on Feb. 9 to extinguish the fire at the PT Biotek Saranatama warehouse in Setu district, South Tangerang, became contaminated with at least 20 tonnes of burned pesticide. The chemical runoff then flowed into nearby drainage canals and into the Cisadane River, which runs through South Tangerang and Tangerang municipality and regency, as well as the Jaletreng River, a tributary.
The contamination led to a mass fish die-off in certain sections of the two rivers as well as a temporary suspension of water access to parts of Tangerang city.
