Rayong chemical blaze victims file complaint against authorities

Some 100 residents of Ban Nong Phawa and Ban Khod Klang accused the Industrial Works Department director-general and Rayong industrial works chief of permitting chemical waste to be stored at the shuttered Win Process plant that caught fire on Monday.

The chemical waste processing facility in Bang Khai district ceased operations following a court ruling in a pollution case two years ago.

The complainants said huge stockpiles of chemical waste had been left unattended, causing a massive fire that had damaged their environment, health and lives.

The fire was under control on Thursday but smouldering heaps of burned chemical waste at the factory continued to spew smoke into the air. Arson has not been ruled out as a cause.

A 13-year dispute between Win Process and surrounding communities ended in December 2022 when the Rayong provincial court ordered the company to pay compensation of 20.82 million baht to clean up pollution.

The factory previously caught fire in 2022, after which it ceased operating and reportedly left tonnes of chemical waste untreated and unattended inside its warehouses.

Complainants said the factory had caused 10 years of environmental damage, after which industrial authorities had failed in their duty to dispose of the chemical waste.

Several local families have been unable to return to their homes due to toxic smoke from the fire, they said. Villagers also fear that rain will wash the toxic chemicals into natural water sources.

Police advised the villagers to get medical check-ups and use the results as evidence to back their complaint. Investigation of the scene of the fire would begin when the hotspots and fumes died down, they added.

The Pollution Control Department said it checked the air 350 metres to 4.7 kilometres from the plant on Wednesday and found no dangerous levels of toxic chemicals. However, fumes in and around the factory premises were considered dangerous, it warned, adding it would gather evidence of environmental damage for restoration costs.