Officials from the Ministry of Industry, the Pollution Control Department and other agencies will start moving the first lot of 270 tonnes of cadmium slag from Bangkok to Tak province at 7pm tonight.
Contained in large bags, the cadmium slag will be loaded onto two types of trailer trucks, each carrying 20 bags and covered with water-proof plastic sheets. Each truck is equipped with GPS for tracking and officials in protective gear will accompany the trucks for the entire journey.
About 450 tonnes of cadmium slag are to be moved daily, from warehouses in Bangkok, Samut Sakhon and Chon Buri, back to Tak province to be buried in a landfill.
Industry Permanent Secretary Nattapol Rangsitpol said today that the cadmium slag will be moved from Bangkok and the J&B Metal warehouse in Samut Sakhon simultaneously. For the cadmium slag in Chon Buri and three other warehouses in Samut Sakhon, the transport to Tak will begin in May.
Police vehicles will lead the convoys of trucks, five departing from Bangkok and four from Samut Sakhon, to the destination in Tak. The convoy will stop only when necessary and there will be no stopover for refuelling, said Nattapol.
Bound & Beyond Company in Nong Bua Tai in Muang district of Tak, where the cadmium slag was originally stored, has prepared a warehouse, with a space of about 2,200 square metres, to store the returning cadmium.
Nattapol said the warehouse floor has been paved with laterite and covered with synthetic clay, to prevent seepage into the ground, adding that the facility can store up to 14,000 tonnes of the toxic material.
People living within a one-km radius of the company have expressed concern over cadmium leaks into the ground, which may contaminate underground water and farmland.
Altogether 12,948 tonnes of cadmium slag have been found, including 8,407 tonnes in Samut Sakhon, 150 tonnes in Bangkok and 4,391 tonnes Chon Buri.
