Bomba’s Hazmat team recommends immediate closure of SK Tudan construction site over gas risk

MIRI (Feb 7): The Hazardous Materials (Hazmat) Unit of the Sarawak Fire and Rescue Department (Bomba) has recommended the immediate closure of a construction site near SK Tudan after monitoring detected high levels of flammable natural gas, with readings exceeding 30 per cent of the Lower Explosive Limit (LEL) near a drilled hole late Friday night.

The recommendation followed gas monitoring conducted after the Hazmat unit arrived at the site from Bintulu at about 6.53pm.

According to a report by Bomba Sarawak, gas monitoring operations commenced at 7.10pm, with the first set of readings completed at 7.33pm, detecting the presence of acetone and toluene.

A second round of monitoring began at 8.10pm, and concluded at 8.23pm, again recording readings for acetone and toluene.

“Further monitoring by the Hazmat team confirmed the presence of flammable gases, namely natural gas including methane, propane and butane, at the incident location.

“Readings taken near the drilled hole using a four-gas detector showed LEL levels of 30 per cent and above, indicating a high fire risk, while monitoring within a five-metre radius recorded zero ELE readings,” it said.

The report also noted that LEL readings remained at normal levels when the drilled hole was closed but rose significantly when it was opened.

“As a result, the Hazmat team recommended that the affected area be closed and stressed that any location with drilled holes or boreholes must be sealed or fully backfilled before the site can be opened to the public, including schools,” it added.

Advisory services have also been sought from the Department of Minerals and Geoscience (JMG), the Department of Environment, and the Department of Chemistry Malaysia for further action.

When contacted, JMG state director Jaithish John confirmed that a request had been received and that a JMG team would be in Miri by Sunday after completing a survey in Oya.

He said his team was currently in Oya, Mukah, following the detection of flammable gas at the Kaul Oya site in Kampung Kuala Hilir earlier this week, where they are conducting a geophysical survey.

At present, all construction works at the SK Tudan canteen site have been halted.