Loei to monitor Mekong water quality until April 12 for contamination
The government will monitor the Mekong River in Loei province until Friday to see if the sulphuric acid spilled in Laos last week has caused any contamination.
Deputy Prime Minister Somsak Thepsutin said on Monday that tests at three checkpoints in Loei’s Chiang Khan and Pakchom districts showed the Mekong was not contaminated.
He said the water had been checked twice a day at 9am and 3pm since last Friday, one day after a truck carrying sulphuric acid toppled over in Luang Prabang. The accident caused the chemical to flow into the Nam Kham River, a major tributary of the Mekong.
Somsak said the site of the accident was about 340 kilometres upstream and would take at least three days to reach Loei.
Somsak, who chairs the Thai Mekong committee, said he has instructed the Office of Natural Water Resources (ONWR) to monitor the Mekong River closely for contamination. He added that his committee will also coordinate with the Mekong River Commission Secretariat and Laos to monitor the water quality until April 12.
Though no contamination has been found so far, people in Loei and in downstream provinces such as Nong Khai, Bueng Kan, Nakhon Phanom, Mukdahan, Amnat Charoen and Ubon Ratchathani have been told to be on alert until the government declares the danger was over, Somsak added.
