EAT 208 Environmental Law, Health and Safety SEMESTER 2, 2020/2021
EAT 208 Environmental Law, Health and Safety SEMESTER 2, 2020/2021
EAT 208 Environmental Law, Health and Safety SEMESTER 2, 2020/2021
SEMESTER 2 ,2020/2021
PREPARED FOR:
PREPARED BY:
Group 13
PROGRAM:
RK07
(ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING)
TABLE OF CONTENT
No Content Page
1.0 Scenario 1
1.1 Introduction 1
2.0 Scenario 2
2.1 Introduction 6
1.1 INTRODUCTION
Cement is the fundamental material used to construct everything from bridges to
swimming pools that can be commonly found in building site. Cement could not perform itself
and therefore involves the help of key ingredient – water. Cement and water mix up to form a
paste that binds the aggregate together. The hardening process of cement with other mixtures
will turns into concrete through hydration.
Cement is a very fine powdery substance that made up of limestone (calcium), sand or
clay (silicon), bauxite (aluminium), and iron ore [1]. It is usually grey in colour. The
manufacture of cement includes four stages which are crushing raw materials, mixing the
materials in the correct proportions, burning the prepared mix, and grinding the burned
product, which known as “clinker” together with some five percent gypsum to control the time
of set of the cement.
Human extremely needs the production of cement as it is the world’s most leading
construction materials. But people seems like they are forgetful on how it destroys our Mother
Earth. Generation of cement is one of the largest contributors to greenhouse gas pollution
according to an article on National Geographic website [2]. Cement is environmentally
unfriendly. Highly-toxic substances will be emitted such as carbon dioxide, heavy metal like
thallium, cadmium and mercury during the manufacture of cement. It is the major discharge of
greenhouse gases, accounting to an eight percent of total emissions [3].
The cement mill stated in Scenario 1 – Hong Huat Enterprise is located near to Taman
Semesti and its operation has been affecting the nearby residents since November 2010. They
claim that their clothes are sandy after hanging outside, the floor is always dusty and had to be
cleaned all the time. Moreover, some of them have suffered itchy skin, sore eyes, persistent
cough and asthma. They are affected by the noise produced as well. The structural wall
cracked due to the vibration of heavy vehicles in the factory. Hence, on behalf of
Jawatankuasa Bertindak Kampun Baru Sungai Buluh, Batu 8 1/2, Jalan Hutan Melintang, we
will evaluate and discuss based on the guideline of Environmental Quality Act 1974 (ACT
127) in order to cope with the consequences of cement produced.
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1.2 REPORT CONTENT
Section
Scenario 1 depicts air pollution, noise pollution, and licenses as sources of pollution at
that location. Referring to the legislation on Environment quality Act 1974, the section that
can be charged were Section 16 licensee to comply with licence and Section 17 licence fees
which were in Part III (Licences) and Section 22 restrictions on pollution of the atmosphere
and Section 23 restrictions on noise pollution which were in Part IV (Prohibition and
Control of Pollution).
Section 16 (Licensee to comply with licence) which is stated about the owner of Hong
Huat Enterprise shall comply in every respect with the terms and condition thereof. In
addition, they who contravenes subsection (1) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable
to a fine not exceeding twenty-five thousand ringgit or to imprisonment for a period not
exceeding two years or to both, and a fine of one thousand ringgit for each day the offence is
continued after the Director General has served him with a notice requiring him to comply
with the term or condition stated therein.
Section 17 (Licence fees) about inspection it is ascertained that the pollutants or class
of pollutants or class of pollutants discharged, emitted or deposited is different from or the
quantity of wastes discharged, emitted or deposited is greater than, that declared by the Hong
Huat Enterprise in his application for or renewal of licence, the Director General may recover
such fees as would have been payable in respect of that pollutant or class of pollutant or extra
quantity of discharge, emission or deposit.
Regulation
The scenario will be seen under in Environmental Quality Act (Clean Air)
Regulations 2014 under Regulation 6, Regulation 13 and Regulation 3(b). 2
The factory is located within 20-50 meters of the community, and toxic cement dust
pollution is released, particularly during dry and windy weather. The clothes are hung in a
sandy manner, and they have itchy skin, sore eyes, a constant cough, and are particularly
harmful to the elderly, who are often afflicted with respiratory disease and asthma. The floor
of the house is always dusty, and it must be washed on a regular basis. The first subregulation
which is Regulation 6 stated that a Hong Huat Enterprise premise including that which is not
subject to any condition on limit values for air pollutant whether. Then, second subregulations
is Regulation 13 stated that a Hong Huat Enterprise of the new premises shall comply with the
limit values and technical standard specified in these Regulations. According to the
Regulation 3(b) which is application stated that any other premises or process that discharges
or is capable of discharging air pollutants into the open air.
When the plant was operational, this company used vehicle intrusion noise all of the
time. Residents, pupils, and teachers are unable to participate in outdoor activities as they once
did, and children are unable to learn due to the noise and severe air pollution. The first
subregulation in Regulation 6 (Tests to be conducted by assembler or manufacturer) stated
that purpose of verifying sound emission under these Regulations, the Director General may
require any assembler or manufacturer of motor vehicles to conduct sound level tests, in the
presence of an authorized officer, on each model of motor vehicle assembled or manufactured
and the assembler or manufacturer shall bear the costs of such tests. That is what the Hong
Huat Enterprise is intended to accomplish.
Without a valid license, Hong Huat Enterprise would be unable to operate. The issues
above break the Regulation 4 which has 3 subregulation of revocation and suspension of
licence. The first subregulation stated that if the licensee, Hong Huat Enterprise, fails to meet
any of the requirements, or condition of the licence, the Director General may revoke the
licence or suspend it for such period as he thinks fit. The second subregulation stated that the
suspension of a licence amounts to a revocation of the licence for the period of suspension.
The third subregulation stated that the revocation or suspension of a licence shall not take
effect until the licensee receives written notice thereof [4].
1.3 RECOMMENDATIONS
Section
Referring to the legislation on Environment quality Act 1974, Hong Huat Enterprise
must obey the law based on the section related to its manufacturing factory. The section that
can be charged were Section 16 licensee to comply with licence and Section 17 licence fees
which were in Part III (Licences) and Section 22 restrictions on pollution of the atmosphere
and 3
Section 23 restrictions on noise pollution which were in Part IV (Prohibition and Control of
Pollution).
In Section 16 (Licensee to comply with licence) Hong Huat Enterprise really need to
be alerted due to conduct of hazardous substances. All terms and conditions must be followed
all the time. This is to ensure of maintaining friendly environment from a manufacturing
cement factory. As the premise is very close to residential area such as Kampung Baru Sungai
Buluh, they need to be act properly about licence matter. Any offensive action did by the Hong
Huat Enterprise will be affected nearby residents.
In Section 17 (Licence fees) Hong Huat Enterprise should have been no issues with
licence fee if they emitted amount of substances same as they declared. The factory should not
take advantage of releasing extra substances of cement dust for profit. They should report to
Director General for any excessive of discharged amount. Environmental pollution matter will
be prioritized to be in factories such as Hong Huat Enterprise. The complaints on dust
pollution flying damages nearby resident properties like dusty floors, sandy hanging clothes
and affect health of the people.
Regulation
Hong Huat Enterprise should follow the standard that state in regulation
Environmental Quality (Clean Air) Regulations 2014, which are Regulation 6 measure to
reduce emission, Regulation 13 Limit values and technical standards and Regulation 3
Application.
From Regulation 3 (Application) (b) Hong Huat Enterprise is seen under this
regulation due to the discharging of air pollutants into the open air. They should always check
on the capability of discharging air pollutants. Next, obeying Regulation 6 (measure to reduce
emission) Hong Huat Enterprise should always measure the amount of pollutants released by
the factory in order to help reducing air pollution determined by the Director General. Hong
Huat Enterprise should follow Regulation 13 (Limit values and technical standards) as cement
producing factory listed in the first schedule. They can only release granted amount of air
pollutants in time specified. This activity will ensure the continuing of freedom factory. 4
Hong Huat Enterprise can continue to operate the factory if they follow all the regulations
mentioned. Keeping the environment clean will not make other parties to be offended such as
residents of Kampung Baru Sungai Buluh did.
Environmental Quality (Motor Vehicle Noise) Regulations 1987 under Regulation 6 test to
be conducted by assembler or manufacturer.
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2.0 SCENARIO 2
2.1 INTRODUCTION
An inorganic compound that is composed of a single nitrogen atom covalently bonded
to three hydrogen atoms is known as ammonia. One of the major contributions of ammonia is
in the nitrogen cycle which is a bacterial process and the breakdown of organic matter
naturally. Ammonia is the primary natural refrigerants of choice. This is because ammonia can
be easily compressed in the form of liquid. Thus, liquid ammonia can act as a refrigerant.
During vaporization of liquid ammonia, it will absorb a large quantity of heat at a constant
temperature. Hence, it is used for making ice in the factories as it acts as a refrigerant.
However, ammonia gases also contribute to a severe health hazard due to their toxicity.
When a person is exposed to 300ppm of ammonia gas, skin burns, and breathing issues will
arise [7]. Unfortunately, when a person encounters ammonia exposure to high concentrations,
they will experience immediate burning of the eyes, nose, throat, and respiratory tract and can
result in blindness, lung damage or can be fatal within a few breaths since the ammonia gas is
a corrosive substance [8]. While lower levels of ammonia exposure (levels from 70 to 300
ppm) can cause severe irritation of the nose, throat, and airways. Symptoms are coughing,
shortness of breath, difficult breathing, and tightness in the chest [9]. Besides, low-level long-
term exposure can lead to permanent damage to the human body [10].
The same goes for scenario 2 in Problem Based Learning 1, the ice-making factory in
Taman Nagasaki Prai, Penang which used ammonia gas as the main chemical ingredient for
making ice. Unfortunately, the factory was faced an ammonia leakage problem, which affected
100 workers from the neighboring factories at Taman Nagasari Prai. The neighbor's factories
workers detect the pungent smell of ammonia leakage around 7 am. Before the situation is
getting serious, the neighboring workers informed the fire And Rescue Department of a
solution to overcome this situation.
Team members of the Fire and Rescue Department finalize a leakage on a faulty pipe
connected to a 300kg cylinder of ammonia. The team has successfully sealed the leak within
15 minutes. Referring to the issue above, our group will make a discussion concerning the
Environmental Quality Act 1974 (ACT 127), Malaysia using suitable sub-act involved in the
emission of the ammonia gas.
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2.2 REPORT CONTENT
Section
Scenario 2 shows that the hazardous leakage happened in the premise which will harm
workers from several factories. Referring to the legislation on Environment quality Act
1974, the section that can be charged were Section 22 restriction on air pollution, Section 31
restriction on equipment, Section 32 restriction on maintenance which were in Part IV
(Prohibition and Control of Pollution), Section 37 restriction on furnishing information
which were in Part VI (Miscellaneous).
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This situation result will continue under subsection 37(2) the factory to answer any
questions from Director General and fails to furnish such information required was found
guilty and shall be liable to a fine not exceeding two thousand ringgit or imprisonment for a
period not exceeding six months or to both.
Regulation
The scenario will be seen under Environment Quality (Clean Air) and Regulations
2014 under:-
Regulation 8 (Failure in operation of air pollution control system) the Director General
should be notified no later than one hour. Under this regulation, time of leakage of ammonia
happened and notification on Director General will be seen and investigated. From the case,
the factory lack of responses to notify accident related to failure in the operation of air
pollution control system.
Regulation 3 (prohibition on use of refrigerant) stated that no person shall use any
refrigerant specified in the first schedule in the manufacturing and if the factory found
contravenes shall be liable to a fine not exceeding one hundred thousand ringgit or to
imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or to both. The ice-making factory will be
charged under in this regulation and investigated to be guilty if they use the prohibited
refrigerant or in an excessive amount.
Regulation 5 (condition on person using refrigerant) stated that only trained person
who has attended any course for refrigerant handling certified by Director General. This
regulation ensures expertise of conducting hazardous substances and equipment for smooth
manufacturing industry such as the ice-making factory. In Scenario 2, the ice-making factory
likely to not fulfill requirement of this regulation conditions after the incident of ammonia
leakage.
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2.3 RECOMMENDATIONS
Section
In Section 31 (Power to require owner or occupier to install, operate, repair, etc.) under
subsection 31(1) (b), this ice factory that likely to emit environmentally hazardous substance,
need to be repair, alter or replace equipment or control equipment. Control equipment such as
ammonia detector system helps to alert workers inside premise when there is any emergency
or leakage happen in the future. This factory needs to ensure the control equipment to be
repaired and calibrated from time to time to avoid the equipment from being malfunction.
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In Section 32 (Owner or occupier to maintain and operate equipment), the owner of
company needs to ensure the equipment or control equipment in good condition and to operate
in a proper and efficient manner. The ice factory control equipment did not function well and
results in the leakage of ammonia. Thus, the ice factory needs to monitor the ammonia detector
system to operate properly in an efficient manner to avoid from leakage happen again in other
time or conduct leak testing.
Regulation
The scenario will be seen under Environmental Quality (Clean Air) Regulations
2014.
2. Curry, Andrew. “New Chemistry, Less Energy Could Yield Greener Cement.”
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on 20th April 2021.
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Regulations, Rules & Orders. International Law Book Services.
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cause-for-concern
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Public Health Service, Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, September,
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Vol.13, Pp. 543-550, https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxprofiles/tp126.pdf, accessed on
23th April 2021.
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howmuch2.pdf, accessed on 23th April 2021.
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management practice, Process Safety Progress, Vol. 27, and No. 1. Pp. 15-20, 200,
https://aiche.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/prs.10208, accessed on 24th
April2021.
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https://www.lawteacher.net/free-law-essays/environmental-law/preservation-of-the-
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