An inspection of smelting warehouses storing carcinogenic cadmium waste in Samut Sakhon province have revealed that about 10,000 tonnes have gone missing.
Industry Minister Pimpatra Wichaikul, who visited a warehouse on Friday, revealed that the volume of stored cadmium waste did not match the transfer permits issued to a firm in Tak province.
“The original firm in Tak was granted approval to transfer about 13,000 tonnes of cadmium waste, but we found only 2,440 tonnes of waste here in the warehouses,” Pimpatra said.
The waste was transferred from Tak to Samut Sakhon in August last year. Initial investigations show that the firm in Samut Sakhon has a license to engage in this business.
Pimpatra tasked provincial industrial officials with locating the missing cadmium waste and she confirmed that Samut Sakhon governor had order the waste to be returned to Tak, despite the Tak firm having a legitimate license to transfer the waste.
Meanwhile, officials from the Primary Industries and Mines Department in Tak visited the source firm’s site and found it to be out of business and its buildings had already been dismantled.
There was, however, evidence of cadmium waste left there, so they collected samples for examination.
